Protection of certain Crown land
20 Protection of certain Crown land
[(1)-(4) deleted]
Notwithstanding that any Crown land to which this subsection refers may be marked out as or be included in a mining tenement, a mining tenement or Miner’s Right does not entitle the holder thereof to prospect or fossick on, explore, or mine on or under, or otherwise interfere with, any Crown land that is —
for the time being under crop, or which is situated within 100 m thereof; or
used as or situated within 100 m of a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field, orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield; or
situated within 100 m of any land that is in actual occupation and on which a house or other substantial building is erected; or
the site of or situated within 100 m of any cemetery or burial ground; or
the site of or situated within 100 m of a permanent electrical or fibre optic cable; or
land under a diversification lease that is the site of, or situated within 100 m of, a substantial structure that —
is being erected or commissioned; or
has been erected and is used, not being a structure previously erected and used for mining purposes by a person other than a lessee of that diversification lease;
or
land under a pastoral lease or a diversification lease that is the site of, or is situated within 400 m of the outer edge of, any water works, race, dam, well or bore, not being an excavation previously made and used for mining purposes by a person other than a lessee of that pastoral lease or diversification lease,
without the written consent of the occupier, unless —
the warden in relation to any land other than land referred to in paragraph (c) or (db) otherwise directs; or
in the case of mining, it is carried out not less than 30 m below the lowest part of the natural surface of the land,
but nothing in this subsection prevents such a holder from passing and repassing over any Crown land that is situated within —
100 m of any Crown land that is —
for the time being under crop; or
used as a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field, orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield; or
in actual occupation and on which a house or other substantial building is erected; or
the site of any cemetery or burial ground; or
the site of a permanent electrical or fibre optic cable; or
the site of a substantial structure that is being erected or commissioned or that has been erected and is used;
or
400 m of any Crown land that is the site of any water works, race, dam, well or bore,
in order to gain access to other land (not being Crown land referred to in paragraph (f) or (g)), for the purpose of prospecting or fossicking on, exploring, mining on or under, or marking out that other land but a warden shall not give a direction under paragraph (ea) unless he is satisfied that the land is bona fide required for mining purposes and he is satisfied that compensation in accordance with section 123 for all loss or damage suffered or likely to be suffered by an owner or occupier of the land has been agreed upon or otherwise determined, or is assessed and settled in accordance with this Act.
Subsection (5) does not apply to land under a diversification lease described in subsection (5)(db) unless the land is identified in the diversification lease under the Land Administration Act 1997 section 92C(4) for the purposes of this subsection.
The holder of a mining tenement or Miner’s Right who passes or repasses over any Crown land that is situated within —
100 m of any Crown land referred to in subsection (5)(f); or
400 m of any Crown land referred to in subsection (5)(g),
in order to gain access to the other land referred to in subsection (5) for the purpose referred to therein shall —
before so passing or repassing, take all reasonable and practicable steps to notify the occupier of the Crown land so situated of his intention to do so; and
when so passing or repassing —
take all necessary steps to prevent damage or injury to property or livestock whether resulting from fire, the presence of dogs, the discharge of firearms, the use of vehicles or any other cause; and
cause as little inconvenience as possible to the occupier of the Crown land so situated; and
comply with any reasonable request made by the occupier of the Crown land so situated in relation to the manner in which that holder so passes or repasses;
and
restrict the number of occasions on which he so passes or repasses to the minimum necessary for the purpose of prospecting or fossicking on, exploring, mining operations on or under, or marking out that other land; and
make good any damage caused by that passing or repassing to any improvements or livestock on the Crown land so situated,
and the occupier of the Crown land so situated is entitled to be compensated by that holder for any damage referred to in paragraph (f) that is not made good by that holder, and, in respect of land under cultivation, for any other loss or damage for which that holder is liable in accordance with section 123.
The amount of any compensation payable under subsection (5a) by the holder of the mining tenement or Miner’s Right concerned to an occupier of Crown land referred to in that subsection shall be determined —
by agreement between that holder and that occupier; or
in default of agreement, by the warden’s court on the application of that holder or that occupier.
A determination made by the warden’s court under subsection (5b) is, for the purposes of section 147(1), a final determination of the warden’s court.
[Section 20 3 amended: No. 122 of 1982 s. 6; No. 100 of 1985 s. 13; No. 22 of 1990 s. 5; No. 31 of 1997 s. 141; No. 63 of 2000 s. 4; No. 15 of 2002 s. 5; No. 39 of 2004 s. 50 and 88; No. 51 of 2012 s. 8; No. 31 of 2022 s. 8; No. 4 of 2023 s. 133.]
[20A-20C. Deleted: No. 51 of 2012 s. 9.]
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.