Property industry insiders have called for the State Government to review legislation relevant to acquisitions under a proposed Metropolitan Regional Scheme (MRS) amendment, which incorporates the Bush Forever program.
The Department for Planning and Infrastructure last week released the MRS amendment for public comment, along with a draft statement of planning policy, incorporating more than 51,000 hectares of bushland across 287 metropolitan sites previously declared to be under the Bush Forever program.
The amendment will create a Bush Forever Protection area (BFPA) over Bush Forever sites zoned and reserved in the MRS, and will place statutory constraints on development.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said Bush Forever was the Government’s strategy to provide the people of Perth with a guarantee of access to natural bushland for the future.
The amendment will reserve sites of the highest conservation value for parks and recreation reservation in the MRS to a total of 20,000ha.
“In the event that private land is proposed for parks and recreation reservation, we will work with the landowner to ensure adequate compensation is provided; fair market value will be determined by independent valuation of the property,” Ms MacTiernan said.
Industry representatives remain cautious about the fairness of the MRS rezoning process, however, following claim and counter claim between the minister and the media over the issue last week.
REIWA councillor and chairman of the Coalition for Property Rights, Joe White, said the issue was not over the need for planning or greater public good, but the speed with which land was resumed and amount of compensation given.
“If people’s land rights are going to be changed, the cost cannot fall on individual land owners. It is inequitable and unfair,” Mr White said.
“We all know the purposes behind the MRSs are necessary, and the minister keeps bringing this up as a diversionary tactic from the real issue.
“The Government is not initiating resumption and landowners are left in limbo while their land is devalued, and no provision for compensation other than value of land is provided for.
“They are using planning legislation to avoid paying just compensation to land owners, and Ms MacTiernan needs to address this.”
He said the Minister for the South West, Bob Kucera, needed to address his constituents about the issue.
Valuer and member of the Australian Property Institute legislative review committee, Jeff Spencer, applauded the Government’s efforts to preserve bushland but said the committee believed compensation provisions under the MRS needed review.
“It is a worthy objective but there is a real shortfall in addressing compensation, which has got to be brought up to a new level,” Mr Spencer told WA Business News.
“Many perceive the MRS provisions to be inadequate – the Land Administration Act is the correct act to aquire land by, and we have made recommendations to that effect.
“The Land Administration Act provides for several different heads of loss and just terms, where the MRSs do not.”
Mr Spencer recommended the establishment of an independent inquiry into compensation statutes in the State for land acquisition.
