Cox v Chief Executive, Department of Natural Resources

These matters involve claims for compensation in respect of five parcels of land held by members of the Cox family and situated to the south of the Bruce Highway between Giru and Ayr, in the Burdekin District. The lands were resumed under the provisions of the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 for the purposes of the Burdekin River Irrigation Project (the Burdekin scheme). The legal issues the Court was required to decide included the highest and best use of the land, the extent to which each parcel had potential as irrigable arable land, and the impact of the Burdekin scheme on the value of the resumed land. The Court found that the claimants' assumptions about the success of a private irrigation scheme, the Davco project, were overly optimistic and that the respondent's groundwater allocation policy was appropriate. The Court determined compensation for each parcel of land based on the highest and best use, taking into account the potential for irrigation and the availability of water resources. The Court also awarded interest on the compensation amounts and ordered the respondent to pay reasonable valuation and legal fees incurred by the claimants.