Crown Lands Act 1976 (Tas)

Crown Lands Act 1976 An Act to make fresh provisions with respect to the management, sale, and disposal of the lands of the Crown [Royal Assent 19 July 1976] Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows: PART I - Preliminary 1. Short title and commencement (1) This Act may be cited as the Crown Lands Act 1976 . (2) This Act shall commence on a date to be fixed by proclamation. 2. Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – assigned land means – (a) land occupied by or on behalf of the Crown; and (b) land assigned to the Crown under section 46 ; biological diversity means the variety of – (a) plants, animals and micro-organisms; and (b) the genes contained in plants, animals and micro-organisms; and (c) the ecosystems of which plants, animals and micro-organisms form part; Conservation Management Trust means a Conservation Management Trust established under section 12I ; contract means an agreement entered into between a purchaser of Crown land and the Minister under this Act or Commissioner of Crown Lands under any previous Act for the sale and purchase of the land mentioned in the agreement; Crown land means land which is vested in the Crown, and which is not contracted to be granted in fee simple; and includes land granted in fee simple which has revested in the Crown by way of purchase or otherwise; Director-General means the Director-General of Lands appointed pursuant to section 7 ; geological diversity means the natural range of geological, geomorphological and soil features, assemblages, systems and processes; improvements means all work done and materials used on or for the benefit of any land which visibly and effectively improves or increases the value of the land; land includes land covered by the sea or other waters, and the part of the sea or those waters covering that land; management plan has the meaning assigned to that expression by section 12C(5) ; managing authority, in relation to any Crown land reserved as a public reserve, means the managing authority for that land pursuant to section 12G ; mining operations means mining operations within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 ; mining right means any right accruing – (a) under the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 to the holder of a mineral tenement within the meaning of that Act; and (b) to any person who has made an application under section 70 or 96 of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 ; Portfolio Department means the State instrumentality that has the primary responsibility for controlling or managing portfolio land; portfolio land means Crown land, the control and management of which is the primary responsibility of a State instrumentality other than the Department; Portfolio Minister, in relation to any portfolio land, means the Minister responsible for the State instrumentality that has the primary responsibility for controlling or managing that land; prescribed body means – (a) a public authority having jurisdiction over the locality in which the Crown land reserved as a public reserve is located; or (b) a body corporate – (i) whose objectives or purposes in the opinion of the Minister are primarily conservation purposes; and (ii) that in the opinion of the Minister has a structure and capacity to effectively exercise the functions of a managing authority; or (c) a Conservation Management Trust; public authority has the same meaning as in the National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 ; public reserve means Crown land that has been reserved to the Crown as a public reserve under section 8 ; purposes of reservation, in relation to any Crown land reserved as a public reserve, means the purposes for which that land was reserved; resource management and planning system objectives means the objectives of the resource management and planning system of Tasmania as set out in Schedule 3 ; rural land means land used for agricultural, pastoral, horticultural, viticultural, forestry, growing of trees for commercial or industrial purposes, or for any other purpose of primary production; State instrumentality means – (a) a Government department within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000 ; and (b) a State authority within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000 ; statutory power has the same meaning as in the National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 ; works includes the following: (a) any change to the natural or existing condition or topography of land; (b) any building work within the meaning of the Building Act 2016 ; (c) any other works the Governor, by proclamation, declares to be works for the purposes of this Act. 2A. Act not to apply to certain land This Act does not apply to any Crown land that is – (a) reserved land within the meaning of the Nature Conservation Act 2002 ; or (b) permanent timber production zone land within the meaning of the Forest Management Act 2013 . PART II - Administration 3. Powers of management and sale of Crown land vested in Minister Subject to this Act, the Minister has power to reserve, set aside, manage, lease, license and transfer or otherwise dispose of Crown land. 3A. Compliance with resource management and planning system objectives (1) In exercising any powers or performing any functions under this Act in relation to any Crown land that is reserved as a public reserve, a person must have regard to the resource management and planning system objectives. (2) In the case of a public reserve for which there is a management plan, if there is any inconsistency between the resource management and planning system objectives and the provisions of the management plan, the provisions of the management plan prevail. (3) In the case of a public reserve for which there is not a management plan, if there is any inconsistency between the resource management and planning system objectives and the management objectives specified in Schedule 4 or the purposes for which that land was reserved, the latter objectives and the purposes prevail. 4. Land districts and parishes (1) Land districts and parishes existing at the commencement of this Act are continued for the purposes of this Act. (2) The Governor may by proclamation constitute, abolish, define, re-define, or name land districts and parishes for the purposes of this Act. (3) A parish for the purposes of this Act shall not include any land within a city or town, and when a city or town is extended the area of the parish affected thereby shall, by virtue of the instrument effecting the change in the city or town, be contracted by the area so affected. 5. Sites for towns (1) For the purposes of this Act the Governor may by proclamation constitute, abolish, define, or re-define areas of town lands – (a) which may include lands other than Crown lands; and (b) which are – (i) adjacent to a city or town; or (ii) intended by the Governor to be sites for towns, villages, or hamlets. (2) Areas constituted in accordance with subsection (1)(b)(ii) may, on the recommendation of the Place Names Advisory Panel established by the Place Names Act 2020 , be assigned names in the proclamations constituting them. 6. Land to be disposed of only in accordance with this Act (1) Crown land shall be disposed of in accordance with this Act and not otherwise. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) is to be taken as limiting the operation of any provision of the Crown Lands (Shack Sites) Act 1997 in relation to the sale of a shack site under that Act. 7. Appointment of Director-General of Lands and employees (1) The Governor may appoint a State Service officer or State Service employee to be Director-General of Lands and that officer or employee is to hold that office in conjunction with State Service employment. (2) Subject to and in accordance with the State Service Act 2000 , persons may be appointed or employed for the purposes of this Act. 8. Public purposes for which land may be reserved (1) The Minister may, by order, reserve any Crown land to the Crown as a public reserve – (a) if the land possesses any of the values specified in Column 2 of Schedule 5 ; and (b) for any of the purposes specified in Column 3 of Schedule 5 . (c) . . . . . . . . (d) . . . . . . . . (e) . . . . . . . . (f) . . . . . . . . (g) . . . . . . . . (h) . . . . . . . . (i) . . . . . . . . (2) . . . . . . . . (3) Except as otherwise specially provided, no land reserved under this section shall be sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of under this Act while the order reserving the same remains in force. (4) Where the Minister is satisfied that any land comprised in an order issued under subsection (1) is unsuitable or not required for the purpose for which it was reserved, the Minister may, by order, revoke the order and thereupon the land comprised in the order shall become freed from the reservation. (5) Where the Minister is satisfied that any land reserved by an order under subsection (1) is not required for the time being for the purpose for which it was reserved, the Minister may authorise the land to be used during the period that it is not so required for some other purpose if that other purpose does not adversely affect the purpose for which it is reserved. (5A) After the commencement of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 , any littoral or riparian reserve, within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1962, is deemed to be reserved under this section free of any limitation as to its use but any grant or sale of that reserve must be carried out in accordance with section 64(1)(c) and (d) and (2) . (6) Orders-in-council made under section 22 of the Lands Resumption Act 1957, including proclamations referred to in subsection (7) , and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act are to be taken to have continued in force and to have had effect after that commencement as if they were orders made under subsection (1) and may be revoked or amended accordingly. (7) Proclamations made under section 68 of the Lands Resumption Act 1910 and in force immediately before the commencement of the Lands Resumption Act 1957 are to be taken to have continued in force and to have had effect after that commencement as if they were orders-in-council made under section 22 of the Lands Resumption Act 1957. 9. . . . . . . . . 10. Power to revoke certain reservations (1) When any Crown land reserved as a public reserve for the purpose of the creation and use of public roads or streets or other internal communications is no longer required for that purpose, the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, revoke the order or other instrument which effected the reservation in respect of that land. (2) An order under subsection (1) revoking another order takes effect – (a) if the revocation is consented to by the owners of the land adjoining the land comprised in the order before the publication of the order in the Gazette, on the date on which the order is so published; or (b) if the revocation is consented to by those owners after the publication of the order in the Gazette, on the date on which the consent to the revocation is published in the Gazette; or (c) if the revocation is not consented to by those owners or if any of those owners lodge with the Minister, within 60 days after the order is gazetted, an objection to the withdrawal of the land from reservation, on the date on which that period expires. (3) When an objection is lodged with the Minister under subsection (2) (c) , the Minister may, before the period referred to in that subsection expires, withdraw the order or modify it and, where the Minister modifies an order, the order as modified takes effect under that subsection. (4) Where an order revoking another order has taken effect under subsection (2) , the land comprised in that other order becomes freed from the reservation and may be dealt with by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (5) An order under this section is not a statutory rule within the meaning of the Rules Publication Act 1953 . 11. Bailiffs of Crown lands (1) A police officer or a ranger, within the meaning of the National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 , is a bailiff of Crown lands and the Minister may appoint such other persons as bailiffs of Crown lands as he thinks fit. (2) Every bailiff shall – (a) prevent intrusion, encroachment, and trespass on any Crown land or assigned land; and (b) levy or recover rent or licence fees payable in respect of any Crown land; and (c) take and recover possession of any Crown land in case of forfeiture; and (d) seize and cause to be towed away to any garage or other place any vehicle parked or left without lawful authority on any Crown land or assigned land and not release the same until the owner or other person acting on his behalf reimburses the Crown with the cost of the towage of the vehicle, the cost of its garaging or keeping, and the cost of its release; and (e) dispose of any chattels which are left or abandoned by any person on any Crown land or assigned land; and (f) perform such duties as may be prescribed or as the Minister may direct. (3) A bailiff may seize and detain any matter or thing which has been or is being unlawfully removed, or which he has reasonable cause to believe to have been unlawfully removed, from any Crown land or assigned land; and the same shall be forfeited to the Crown upon proof to the satisfaction of a justice of the peace of the unlawful removal thereof. 12. Setting aside Crown land for purposes of Act, &c. (1) The Minister may by order set aside Crown land to be used for the purposes of any Act, department, or statutory body on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Minister and the person administering the Act, the department, or the statutory body; and thereupon the land so set aside shall be available for that purpose subject to the terms and conditions so agreed upon. (2) . . . . . . . . (3) For the purposes of giving effect to any order under this section, the Minister has power, upon receipt of the purchase price (if any) in respect of the land comprised in the order and upon fulfilment by the transferee of all conditions precedent, to convey and alienate in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty the land in fee simple in accordance with section 10 of the Lands Titles Act 1980 . (4) The Minister may, by order, if he is satisfied that any land set aside under this section will not be required for the purposes for which it was so set aside, revoke the order by which the land was so set aside or so much of the order as affects that land and thereupon the land ceases to be available for the purpose for which it was so set aside. PART IIB - Management of public reserves 12C. Management plans (1) The Governor, on the recommendation of the Minister, may approve plans for the protection, use, development and management of any Crown land reserved as a public reserve. (2) A plan approved under this section may be a plan that in whole or in part rescinds, replaces or alters any plan previously approved under this section. (3) A plan approved under this section may relate to – (a) all Crown land reserved as a public reserve; or (b) a specified public reserve; or (c) a specified part of any public reserve; or (d) a specified group of public reserves. (4) If a management plan (the "specific plan") is approved for any public reserve or part of a public reserve that is within a specified group of public reserves for which there is a management plan (the "general plan") or if a management plan has been approved in relation to all Crown land reserved as a public reserve (the "general plan"), the provisions of the specific plan prevail over the provisions of the general plan to the extent of any inconsistency. (5) The plans approved under this section and for the time being in force in respect of any Crown land reserved as a public reserve are in this Act referred to as the management plan for that land. 12D. Formulation of management plans (1) The Director-General is to cause to be prepared, with a view to their submission to the Governor by the Minister, the plans referred to in section 12C . (2) In preparing a management plan for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve, the Director-General is to have regard to the purposes specified in Column 3 of Schedule 5 and the management objectives specified in Schedule 4 . (3) The Governor is not to approve a plan under section 12C unless it is submitted in accordance with this section. (4) If the Director-General considers that an Act administered in or by an agency or State authority will or may be affected by a restriction on the exercise of a statutory power that it is proposed to include in a management plan, being a statutory power the right to exercise which is conferred on – (a) the responsible officer of the agency or State authority; or (b) a person employed in the agency or employed by or in the State authority(not being the responsible officer of the agency or State authority); or (c) the State authority, in the case of an Act administered in or by the State authority; or (d) the Minister responsible for the administration of the agency or State authority – the Director-General must, by written notice given to the responsible officer of the agency or State authority, request that officer to provide the Director-General with written representations stating whether or not the officer considers the inclusion of the restriction in the plan to be necessary or desirable and giving reasons for making the representations. (5) For the purposes of subsection (4) , responsible officer means – (a) in relation to an agency, the Head of that agency; and (b) in relation to a State authority, the president, chairperson or other principal or presiding member of the State authority or, if the State authority comprises a single person, that person. (6) If the Director-General considers that – (a) a private right to take water; or (b) any land within a municipal area – will, or may, be affected by a management plan, it must consult with the holder of that private right or with the council of that municipal area. (7) The Director-General, in a notice given for the purposes of subsection (4) , may specify a time, being not less than 30 days after the date of the receipt of the notice by the person to whom it is given, within which the Director-General is to be provided with representations for the purposes of that subsection. (8) A notice given for the purposes of subsection (4) may be sent by post or delivered personally to the person to whom it is directed. (9) Before a plan is submitted to the Governor for approval under section 12C , the Minister is to cause to be published in a daily newspaper circulating within the State a notice – (a) stating that it is proposed to submit a plan in respect of Crown land that is reserved as a public reserve to the Governor for approval; and (b) specifying the place at which the plan may be inspected and copies obtained; and (c) stating that representations with respect to the plan may be made to the Minister before a date specified in the notice, not being earlier than 30 days after the publication of the notice. (10) If a notice has been published in respect of a plan under subsection (9) , the Director-General, on the payment of any charge the Minister may fix, is to provide a copy of that plan to any person requesting the plan. (11) Subject to subsections (13) and (14) , the Minister is to submit a plan to the Governor for approval after the Minister has considered any representations with respect to the plan made to him or her by any person in response to a notice under subsection (9) . (12) In considering any representations made to the Minister in respect of a management plan for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve, or in altering any management plan, the Minister is to have regard to the purposes specified in Column 3 of Schedule 5 and the management objectives specified in Schedule 4 . (13) A plan submitted for the Governor's approval under section 12C may be an unaltered plan or a plan containing such alterations as, subject to subsection (14) , the Minister thinks desirable, having regard to the representations referred to in subsection (11) . (14) The Minister must not make alterations to a plan, being alterations that will affect a restriction on the exercise of a statutory power included in that plan, unless the Minister has consulted the Minister administering the Act under which that statutory power is exercised. 12E. Contents of management plans (1) A management plan for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve – (a) may indicate the manner in which the powers of the Director-General or other managing authority for that land are to be exercised in relation to that land; and (b) may prohibit or restrict, in relation to that land or any part of that land, the exercise of those powers; and (c) may contain any other provisions that are authorised by this Act to be contained in the plan; and (d) is to specify any or all of the purposes specified in Column 3 of Schedule 5 as the purposes for which that land was reserved as a public reserve; and (e) is to specify any or all of the management objectives specified in Schedule 4 as the objectives for which that land is to be managed; and (f) may specify any condition that applies to the application of any objective referred to in paragraph (e) specified in the management plan; and (g) is to specify the manner in which the objectives referred to in paragraph (e) specified in the management plan are to be achieved. (2) A management plan for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve may prohibit or restrict the exercise in relation to that land of any statutory powers. (3) Any restriction imposed under this section on the exercise of a statutory power may be a restriction specifying the conditions subject to which it may be exercised, or the circumstances in which it may or may not be exercised. (4) Any condition imposed under this section on the exercise of a statutory power may be a condition requiring the carrying out, or designed to facilitate or promote the carrying out, of works and other operations during or after the exercise of that power, or requiring the entering into of contracts or the making of any other arrangements designed to secure the carrying out of those works or operations. 12F. Notification and taking effect of management plans (1) The Minister, as soon as possible after the Governor has approved a management plan, is to cause notice of the approval of the plan to be published in the Gazette. (2) A management plan takes effect on the seventh day after the date of notice of its approval has been published as required by subsection (1) . (3) If notice of the approval of a management plan has been published under subsection (1) , the Director-General – (a) on the request of any person and without payment of a fee, is to permit that person to inspect the plan; and (b) if it is practicable, on the request of any person and on payment by that person of any charge that the Minister fixes, is to provide that person with a copy of the plan. 12G. Managing authorities for public reserves (1) Subject to the orders made under this section, the Director-General is the managing authority for all Crown land reserved as a public reserve. (2) The Governor may, by order made with the consent of a prescribed body, declare that body to be the managing authority for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve. (3) A prescribed body may only be appointed as a managing authority in respect of Crown land reserved as a public reserve for which there is a management plan. (4) An order under this section in respect of any Crown land reserved as a public reserve may make provision with respect to – (a) the defraying of the expenses incurred under this Act in relation to that land; and (b) the application of any moneys received under this Act by way of rents, charges, or otherwise, in respect of the land – and the provisions of this Act and of any enactment relating to any public authority that is the owner of, or the managing authority for, that land or in whom that land is vested have effect subject to the provisions of the order. (5) An order under this section may be revoked or varied by a further order of the Governor. (6) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the Governor may, by order, declare that, on such date as may be specified in the order, any order under this section by which the Director-General or a prescribed body is the managing authority for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve ceases to have effect and, on that date, the Director-General or the prescribed body, as the case may be, ceases to be the managing authority for that land. 12H. Functions of managing authority in relation to public reserves (1) Subject to this Act, the managing authority for any Crown land reserved as a public reserve – (a) for which there is a management plan is to manage that land in accordance with that management plan; or (b) for which there is not a management plan is to manage that land – (i) in a manner that is consistent with the purposes for which the land was reserved as a public reserve; and (ii) having regard to the management objectives specified in Schedule 4 . (2) For the purpose of discharging its functions in relation to any Crown land reserved as a public reserve, a managing authority may do, or arrange for the doing of, such things as it considers necessary, including the erection or construction of any works and the purchase or other acquisition of any articles or other things. (3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (2) , the powers conferred by those subsections are taken to include power to – (a) provide and maintain facilities and conveniences for the use or benefit of persons resorting to Crown land reserved as a public reserve, and charge for the use of those facilities or conveniences; and (b) sell or let on hire to, or otherwise provide for the use of, those persons, goods and other articles and things; and (c) obtain and use for the purpose of the exercise of its powers under this section any produce of, or materials in, Crown land reserved as a public reserve; and (d) make arrangements with any other person for the doing of anything referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) or (c) . (4) The arrangements referred to in subsection (3)(d) may be arrangements pursuant to which any person has the right or obligation to do any of the things referred to in that subsection, and those arrangements may provide for the furnishing of consideration in respect of the giving of that right or the imposition of that obligation. 12I. Establishment of Conservation Management Trust (1) The Minister, by written instrument, may establish a Conservation Management Trust to be the managing authority for any public reserve for which there is a management plan. (2) The instrument establishing a Conservation Management Trust is to specify the public reserve in respect of which the Trust is the managing authority. 12J. Functions of Conservation Management Trust (1) The function of a Conservation Management Trust is to manage the land in respect of which it is the managing authority in accordance with the provisions of the management plan for that land. (2) The instrument establishing a Conservation Management Trust – (a) is to specify the functions of the Conservation Management Trust; and (b) may specify any other matter that the Minister considers necessary. 12K. Membership of Conservation Management Trust (1) A Conservation Management Trust is to consist of any of the following persons appointed by the Minister: (a) a person nominated by a council or the councils with jurisdiction in the locality where the public reserve is situated; (b) a person nominated by a Landcare, Bushcare or similar group constituted under the authority of a council or the councils with jurisdiction in the locality where the public reserve is situated; (c) a person nominated by a body that provides facilities or services to tourists; (d) a person nominated by a group whose objectives or purposes in the opinion of the Minister are conservation objectives or purposes; (e) a person nominated by a group whose objectives or purposes in the opinion of the Minister are recreational objectives or purposes; (f) a person nominated by the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania; (g) the Director-General or a person nominated by the Director-General; (h) a person nominated by any other group or body that, in the opinion of the Minister, is likely to contribute beneficially to the management of the public reserve. (2) The Minister is to appoint one of the persons referred to in subsection (1) as chairperson of the Trust. (3) Schedule 6 has effect with respect to the membership and meetings of the Trust. 12L. Revocation of establishment of Conservation Management Trust (1) The Minister may revoke the establishment of a Conservation Management Trust for any reason that the Minister considers necessary by serving a notice to that effect on each of the members of the Trust. (2) On or after the revocation of the establishment of a Conservation Management Trust, the Minister may give directions as to – (a) the disposition of any accounts of the Trust; and (b) the transfer of any liabilities of the Trust. PART III - Sale of Crown Land 13. Sale of Crown land (1) Subject to this Act, the Minister may with the approval of the Governor, sell Crown land including any estate or interest therein in such manner, to such persons, and on such terms and conditions as he thinks fit. (2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) , the approval of the Governor is not required – (a) for the sale of Crown land by auction or otherwise in accordance with section 18 ; or (b) for the sale of any Crown land by public tender; or (c) for the sale of a piece of Crown land the area of which is less than 500 hectares. (3) Before the Minister sells any Crown land, the Director-General shall fix the reserve price of the land and, in so fixing that price, he shall have r