Page 3425 - Week 11 - Thursday, 11 November 2021
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future specific cross-border development such as Ginninderry, the provisions of this bill will help futureproof our options for green developments, going forward. The bill aligns with the interests of the people in the ACT by facilitating a mechanism for a greater variety of housing options to be made available.
This bill contains three key amendments to the City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency Act 2017. These three amendments work together to empower the Suburban Land Agency to acquire and sell land outside the ACT, giving the ACT government an additional mechanism to develop broader housing options for people living in and around Canberra.
Under the act, the Suburban Land Agency is currently only able to purchase land that is under leasehold in the ACT. As members would be aware, property in the ACT is owned and leased by the commonwealth under the management of the ACT government. Land is held under long-term Crown leases, which are generally granted for 99 years.
Land in neighbouring New South Wales, however, is generally held and transferred under a system of freehold title. Land owned under the freehold system means the landowner owns the land for an indefinite period of time. As the Suburban Land Agency’s powers under its act are currently limited to buying and selling leases of land on behalf of the territory, the agency is currently unable to acquire land held under the freehold system in New South Wales.
As one of the bill’s three key amendments, the bill will remove the word “leases” from the provisions that empower the agency to purchase and sell land. The effect will be to enable the agency to buy and sell freehold land. The agency may purchase freehold land if the ACT government chooses in the future to exercise this mechanism in developing future greenfield sites. Such decisions will be dependent on arrangements to be made between the ACT government and the New South Wales government or local shire representatives.
Secondly, this bill will make a consequential amendment to clarify that the proceeds made from selling land, and not just selling leases of land, will form part of the agency’s income. Where the agency buys and then sells land under the freehold tenure system, this amendment will ensure that the proceeds of the sale will be returned to the agency.
Thirdly, the bill will insert a new definition of the term “land” in the act. Currently, the term “land” is not defined in the act. However, as the current act does not empower the agency to purchase land under the freehold system, in effect the concept of “land” in the act is limited to land within the ACT borders. This bill will expand that concept by including land located in New South Wales as part of the definition of the term “land”.
However, two things should be noted. Firstly, the bill will clarify that the declarations of urban renewal precincts will still be limited to land which is within the ACT borders. Secondly, the bill enables land development activities—for example, land remediation, carrying out works on land and preparing land for development—to take place on land purchased by the agency outside the ACT.
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