Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Mosca

The Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales (the Authority) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against decisions of the Land and Environment Court concerning compensation awarded to Mr. Mosca following the compulsory acquisition of his land for a public purpose. The dispute centred on the assessment of compensation, specifically whether the Land and Environment Court had erred in law by failing to properly disregard the effects of the Authority's proposal to carry out the public purpose when determining the market value of the acquired land and injurious affection.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Land and Environment Court had correctly applied the principles of valuation under the relevant legislation, particularly concerning the disregard of the compulsory acquisition proposal's impact on market value. This involved determining whether the court had made errors of law in its assessment of compensation, as opposed to errors of fact, which would be grounds for appeal.

The Court of Appeal found that the Land and Environment Court had erred in law in its assessment of compensation. The court held that the principles governing the disregard of the compulsory acquisition proposal's effects were not correctly applied, leading to an overvaluation of the land and an incorrect assessment of injurious affection. The court reasoned that the market value should be assessed as if the proposal had not been made, and that the injurious affection assessment also required a proper application of this principle.

Consequently, the appeal was allowed with costs. The awards of compensation for both the market value of the land taken and for injurious affection were set aside. The proceedings were remitted to the Land and Environment Court for a redetermination of the compensation according to law, and Mr. Mosca was granted a certificate under the Suitors' Fund Act 1951.