Land Development Contribution Management Act 1970

This Act may be cited as the Land Development Contribution Management Act 1970.

This Act shall commence upon a day to be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette.

In this Act, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires—

agent includes every person who in the State, for or on behalf of any person out of the State (in this definition termed the principal) has the control or disposal of any land belonging to the principal or the control, receipt or disposal of any rents, issues or proceeds derived from any such land.

Appeals Board means the Appeals Board constituted under section 59.

assessment means an assessment of contribution under Part 3.

Authority means the New South Wales Planning and Environment Commission constituted under the New South Wales Planning and Environment Commission Act 1974.

base date means the first day of August, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine.

contribution means development contribution calculated at the rates fixed by the Contribution Act on the leviable increase in the price of land or on the leviable increase in the value of land.

Contribution Act means the Land Development Contribution Act 1970.

contributor means a person who may be assessed for contribution in accordance with this Act.

council has the meaning ascribed thereto in section 4 of the Local Government Act 1919.

county council means a county council constituted under the Local Government Act 1919.

Court means the Land and Environment Court.

Crown land has the same meaning as in the Crown Land Management Act 2016.

declared land means any land to which an order under section 11 applies, being an order published in the Gazette on or before 7 February 1973.

development has the meaning ascribed thereto in subsection (1) of section 342T of the Local Government Act 1919.

Fund means the Land Development Contribution Fund established under Part 7.

interim development order has the meaning ascribed thereto in subsection (1) of section 342T of the Local Government Act 1919.

joint organisation has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act 1993.

land includes land the owner of which is the Crown or a body corporate that is constituted by or under any Act and is deemed by that or any other Act to be a statutory body representing the Crown or to represent the Crown.

local government area has the meaning ascribed thereto in section 4 of the Local Government Act 1919.

mortgage includes any charge whatever upon land or any interest therein, however created, for the securing of money.

owner means a person who has an estate or interest in land.

planning scheme means a scheme prescribed under Part 12A of the Local Government Act 1919 and includes the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme.

public place has the meaning ascribed thereto in section 4 of the Local Government Act 1919.

public reserve has the meaning ascribed thereto in section 4 of the Local Government Act 1919.

public road has the meaning ascribed thereto in the Roads Act 1993.

regulations means regulations made under this Act.

subdivision has the meaning ascribed thereto in section 4 of the Local Government Act 1919.

the non-urban Sydney region means the land within the local government areas specified in the Second Schedule that is shown edged red and tinted brown on the plans specified in the Third Schedule and filed in the office of the Authority.

the Sydney region means the local government areas specified in the First Schedule.

trustee includes, in addition to every person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, by order or declaration of a court or by operation of law—

an executor or administrator, guardian, committee, receiver or liquidator, and

every person having or taking upon himself or herself the administration or control of land affected by any express or implied trust or acting in any fiduciary capacity, or having the possession, control or management of land of a person under legal or other disability.

valuation, in relation to land, means a determination of the value of the land made in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

The powers, authorities, duties and functions conferred and imposed upon a council under this Act apply in respect of each local government area to the council of the area.

For the purposes of assessing any contribution, a reference in this Act to a base date valuation in respect of any land is a reference—

except as provided by paragraph (b), to the valuation of that land as at the base date, or

where that valuation has been altered in accordance with section 47 or 49, to that valuation as so altered,

increased in either case by an amount equal to the appropriate percentage of that valuation, or of that valuation as so altered, calculated in respect of each complete year or part thereof within the period commencing on the base date and ending on the date on which that land became liable for that contribution.

For the purposes of subsection (1) the appropriate percentage is—

except as provided in paragraph (b), two per centum per annum, or

in respect of any part of the period referred to in subsection (1) that is within a quinquennial period commencing on the first day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four or in any fifth year thereafter, such other percentage per annum as may be prescribed in respect of that quinquennial period.

A regulation prescribing another percentage for the purposes of subsection (2) shall not be made except on the recommendation of the Treasurer.

A reference in this Act—

to the grant of a development consent is a reference—

to the passing of a resolution whereby an approval, consent or permission to carry out development is granted by a council under Part 12A of the Local Government Act 1919, under a planning scheme or under an interim development order,

to the making of a decision under that Part, under a planning scheme or under an interim development order, by the Minister or the Authority, as a result of which a person is entitled to carry out development, and

to the delivering of a decision of the Local Government Appeals Tribunal constituted under Part 12B of the Local Government Act 1919, on an appeal under subsection (2) of section 342N of that Act, as a result of which a person is entitled to carry out development,

but where an approval, consent or permission referred to in subparagraph (i), or a decision referred to in subparagraph (ii), is subject to appeal the consent shall be deemed not to have been granted and the decision shall be deemed not to have been made until—

the expiration of one month after the grant of the development consent as referred to in subparagraph (i) (ii) or (iii), or

where an appeal has been lodged, it has been finally determined or withdrawn,

whichever is the later, and

to a development consent is a reference to any such resolution or decision.

Contributions shall be levied and paid in respect of declared land.

Declared land becomes liable for contribution, calculated on the leviable increase in the price of the land, on every date on which it is disposed of on or after the date of publication in the Gazette of an order—

under section 11, and

applying to the land,

and where an interim development order or planning scheme applying to the land has not been subsequently published in the Gazette.

Declared land becomes liable for contribution, calculated on the leviable increase in the value of the land, on the date on which it is first disposed of or a development consent relating to the land is first granted (whichever first happens) on or after the date on which an interim development order or planning scheme applying to the land is published in the Gazette, being the interim development order or planning scheme that is first so published after the date on which an order—

under section 11, and

applying to the land,

is so published.

For the purposes of this Act, land is disposed of—

where a contract or agreement for the sale or other divesting, whether by way of exchange or otherwise, of an estate in fee simple in the land is entered into by the vendor or party divesting himself or herself of the land,

where a contract or agreement for the giving of a direction relating to the land and referred to in the provisions of subsection (5) of section 17 of the Real Property Act 1900 is entered into by the applicant referred to in that subsection,

where the land is not Crown land and a memorandum of transfer transferring an estate in fee simple in the land or an instrument conveying an estate in fee simple in the land is executed by the transferor or conveyor otherwise than pursuant to a contract or agreement referred to in paragraph (a), whether entered into before or after the commencement of this Act,

where a direction relating to the land and referred to in the provisions of subsection (5) of section 17 of the Real Property Act 1900 is given by the applicant referred to in that subsection otherwise than pursuant to a contract or agreement referred to in paragraph (b), whether entered into before or after the commencement of this Act,

where an instrument of transfer or conveyance (not being a Crown grant) of an estate or interest in Crown land (being an estate or interest under a prescribed tenure or under one of a class of tenures prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (5)) is executed by the transferor or conveyor otherwise than pursuant to a contract or agreement referred to in paragraph (a), whether entered into before or after the commencement of this Act, or

where an estate in fee simple in the land is divested, otherwise than in a manner referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), from any person under the provisions of any Act, or Act of the Commonwealth, providing for the compulsory acquisition of land,

but is not disposed of—

where such a contract, agreement, direction, memorandum of transfer, instrument of transfer or conveyance is entered into, given or executed by the Authority in favour of the Crown, a council or body corporate constituted by or under any Act and the land is to be used for a public road or public reserve or for a public purpose (whether of the same or a different kind) approved by the Minister,

where such a contract, agreement, direction, memorandum of transfer, instrument of transfer or conveyance is entered into, given or executed by the Crown, a council or such a body corporate in favour of the Authority and the land was acquired by the Crown, that council or body corporate pursuant to a contract, agreement, direction, memorandum of transfer, instrument of transfer or conveyance referred to in paragraph (g),

where a transfer or instrument of conveyance is entered into in relation to Crown land by way of mortgage or sub-mortgage or by way of release of mortgage or sub-mortgage of those lands,

where it is the subject of a transmission to a person in the person’s capacity as an executor of the will or administrator or trustee of the estate of a deceased person,

where it is the subject of a transfer, conveyance or transmission in specie to a devisee of the land under a will or to a person entitled on the intestacy of a deceased person,

where it is the subject of any instrument whereby it is vested in trustees in the place of other trustees,

where it becomes vested in a person in the person’s capacity as the official receiver or a trustee in bankruptcy,

where it becomes vested in a person in the person’s capacity as the liquidator of a company,

where a contract, agreement, a memorandum of transfer or instrument of conveyance is entered into or executed as a consequence of levying execution on the land,

where it is disposed of, as referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), as property of the Commonwealth, or

where it is disposed of, as referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f), in such cases or circumstances as may be prescribed.

For the purposes of this Act, the date on which land is disposed of is—

where the land is disposed of—

as referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3)—the date of the contract or agreement, or

as referred to in paragraph (c), (d) or (e) of that subsection—the date of the memorandum of transfer, instrument of transfer or conveyance or direction,

or where the contract, agreement, memorandum of transfer, instrument of transfer or conveyance or direction is undated, the date on which the contract or agreement is executed by the vendor or person disposing of the land, the memorandum of transfer or instrument of transfer is executed by the transferor, the instrument of conveyance is executed by the conveyor or the direction is executed by the person giving it, as the case may be, or

where land is disposed of as referred to in paragraph (f) of subsection (3)—the date on which the land is divested from the person referred to in that paragraph.

A reference in subsection (3) to an estate in fee simple in land includes a reference to—

an estate or interest in the land that may be converted by the holder thereof into an estate in fee simple in the land under section 134 of the Conveyancing Act 1919, and

where the land is Crown land, an estate or interest in the land under a prescribed tenure or one of a prescribed class of tenures.

The reference in subsection (2) to a development consent does not include a reference to a development consent for the carrying out of development for a charitable purpose or for any purpose ancillary to that purpose or, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, for the purpose of any works of electricity supply to be carried out or conducted by an electricity generator within the meaning of the Energy Services Corporations Act 1995, an energy distributor within the meaning of the Energy Services Corporations Act 1995 or an authorised distributor under the Electricity Network Assets (Authorised Transactions) Act 2015, any works of water supply or of sewerage or drainage to be carried out or conducted by the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, a county council, a joint organisation or a council, any works for or in connection with public roads to be carried out or conducted by the Commissioner for Main Roads or a council, or for the purpose of a public place, a public reserve, a public cemetery or crematorium, a public hospital, a public railway, a public school, a technical college, a university constituted under any Act or a college of any such university, a college of advanced education within the meaning of the Higher Education Act 1969 or for any other public purpose (whether of a like or different nature) that is approved by the Authority, for the purposes of this section, with the consent of the Treasurer.

A reference in subsection (1) or (2) to a disposition of land does not, where the date on which the land is disposed of is 8 February 1973, or any subsequent day, include a reference to that disposition.

A reference in subsection (2) to a development consent does not include a reference to a development consent granted on or after 8 February 1973.

Where land has become liable for contribution as a consequence of a disposition, the Authority may declare that the disposition is a disposition to which this section applies.

Subsections (1) and (2) of section 7 shall cease to apply in respect of land that has become liable to contribution as a consequence of a disposition declared to be a disposition to which this section applies, and that land shall be deemed never to have become so liable as a consequence of that disposition.

The Authority shall not make a declaration under this section in relation to any disposition unless the Authority, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, is satisfied that it is just and equitable to do so.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, where a parcel of land—

was, at the base date, owned by a natural person,

was the only parcel of land owned by that person at that date,

had, at that date, erected thereon a single dwelling-house, and was, at that date, being used for residential purposes, and

had, at that date, an area not exceeding nine thousand square feet,

that parcel of land is not liable for contribution.

In this section—

parcel of land means a lot in a lawful division of land or, where, at the base date, a single dwelling-house was erected on land in two or more such lots, the land comprised in those lots.

single dwelling-house means one dwelling used or adapted for use solely for habitation by not more than one family.

For the purposes of this Act, the leviable increase in the price of any land is—

where the consideration applicable upon the land being disposed of exceeds the base date valuation of that land—the amount ascertained by subtracting from that consideration that base date valuation, and

where that consideration does not exceed that base date valuation—nil.

For the purposes of subsection (1), the consideration applicable upon any land being disposed of is—

where the land is disposed of for a consideration that consists of an amount of money only, and—

the land is disposed of, as referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 7—the sum of the consideration expressed in the contract or agreement for the sale or other divesting of the land and, where the contract or agreement was entered into as a consequence of the exercise of an option to purchase or acquire the land, any amount paid in respect of that option,

the land is disposed of as referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 7—the sum of the consideration expressed in the contract or agreement for the giving of the direction relating to the land and, where the contract or agreement was entered into as a consequence of the exercise of an option for the giving of the direction, any amount paid in respect of that option,

the land is disposed of, as referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 7—the sum of the consideration expressed in the memorandum of transfer or conveyance and, where the memorandum of transfer or conveyance was executed as a consequence of the exercise of an option to purchase, or for the transfer or conveyance of, the land, any amount paid in respect of that option, or

the land is disposed of, as referred to in paragraph (e) of subsection (3) of section 7—the sum of the consideration expressed in the instrument of transfer or conveyance and, where any such instrument was executed as a consequence of the exercise of an option for the transfer or conveyance of the estate or interest in the land, any amount paid in respect of that option, or

where the land is disposed of—

as referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (e) of subsection (3) of section 7 and the consideration applicable is not ascertainable under paragraph (a), or

as referred to in paragraph (d) or (f) of that subsection,

the amount determined by the Valuer-General as being the value, as at the date of the disposition, of the land.

Where a valuation of any land disposed of as referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (e) of subsection (3) of section 7 for a consideration that consists of an amount of money only is made in accordance with section 42 that valuation shall be, for the purposes of subsection (1), the consideration applicable upon the land being so disposed of.

For the purposes of this Act, the leviable increase in the value of any land is—

where the final valuation of that land exceeds the base date valuation of that land—the amount ascertained by deducting from that final valuation that base date valuation, and

where that final valuation does not exceed that base date valuation—nil.

The reference in subsection (1) to the final valuation of any land is a reference—

except as provided in paragraph (b), to the valuation of that land as at the date (in this section referred to as the final date) upon which an interim development order or planning scheme is published in the Gazette, being the interim development order or planning scheme that is first so published after the date on which an order—

under section 11, and

applying to the land,

is so published, or

where that valuation has been altered in accordance with section 47 or 49, to that valuation as so altered,

increased in either case by an amount equal to the appropriate percentage of that valuation, or of that valuation as so altered, calculated in respect of each complete year or part thereof within the period commencing on the final date and ending on the date on which the land became liable for contribution calculated on the leviable increase in the value of the land.

For the purposes of subsection (2) the appropriate percentage is—

except as provided in paragraph (b), two per centum per annum, or

in respect of any part of the period referred to in subsection (2) that is within a quinquennial period referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 4, the percentage prescribed for the purposes of that paragraph in respect of that quinquennial period.

A regulation prescribing another percentage for the purposes of subsection (3) shall not be made except on the recommendation of the Treasurer.

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, declare that any land, specified or described in the order, that is within the non-urban Sydney region is land liable for contribution under this Act.

For the purposes of this Act, an order shall be deemed to have been published in the Gazette on the date of commencement of this Act declaring that the land within the local government areas specified in the Fourth Schedule and shown tinted light green on the plans specified in the Fifth Schedule and filed in the office of the Authority is land liable for contribution under this Act.