Lansdowne Pastoral Company Pty Ltd v Department of Natural Resources and Water

The Lansdowne Pastoral Company Pty Ltd, a pastoral company, appealed against the valuation of a 506 ha parcel of land, referred to as the "Lansdowne" Permit to Occupy, which was situated approximately 16 km south of Tambo. The parcel was subject to a Permit to Occupy, and the Department of Natural Resources and Water had applied an unimproved value of $106,000, or $210/ha, to the land as at 1 October 2005. The company argued that the correct valuation should be $57,000. The central issue for the court was the extent of the increase in the unimproved value and whether the Department had appropriately accounted for the restrictions and limitations of use in applying the valuation. The company argued that the parcel had limited appeal as a separate paddock due to its location beside a busy road, limited water supply, and the inconvenience of removing stock each time travelling stock passed through. The Department contended that the parcel would be in demand as a handy paddock close to town, despite its fenced-off area and limited water supply. The Land Court of Queensland considered the evidence and submissions from both parties and determined that the 91 ha area, which had been fenced off and was unusable, should be excluded from the valuation. The remaining 415 ha appeared to be reasonable grazing country and, although it had disadvantages, its highest and best use would be as an adjunct to the "Lansdowne" aggregation. The court accepted the company's contention that the parcel would have very little appeal as a dealer's paddock and that the inconvenience of de-stocking the property each time travelling stock came through must detract from its value. The court concluded that the assessment of $210/ha was appropriate, but it should be applied only to the 415 ha which were available for use. The resulting valuation was $87,000.
The appeal was allowed, and the unimproved value of the "Lansdowne" Permit to Occupy for rental purposes as at 1 October 2005 was determined at Eighty-seven Thousand Dollars ($87,000).