Somerset Dam Catchment Area Declaratory Act 1974 (Qld)

512 Q)Ilve1ts1attLT ANNO VICESIMO TERTIO ELIZABETHAE SECUNDAE REGINAE No. 51 of 1974 An Act to provide with respect to the payment of rates made and levied in respect of certain lands within the Somerset Dam Catchment Area and with respect to the liability of holders of such lands in connexion with such rates [ASSENTED TO 25TH SEPTEMBER, 1974] BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:- 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Somerset Dam Catchment Area Declaratory Act 1974. 2. Meaning of terms. In this Act, save where a contrary intention appears- " lease " includes an agreement to lease , licence , and tenancy arrangement; " Local Authority " means a Local Authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1936-1974; Somerset Dam Catchment Area " means the lands described in the first schedule to The City of Brisbane (Water Supply) Act of 1959 an estate in fee simple wherein is vested in Brisbane City Council by section 9 of that Act;

Somerset Dam Catchment Area Declaratory Act 1974, No. 51 513 " submerged land " means land (being part of the Somerset Dam Catchment Area) which- (a) in relation to the period commencing on 1 July 1967 and terminating on 30 June 1971, is below R.L. 325 State Datum, (b) in relation to the period commencing on 1 July 1971 and terminating on a date to be fixed by Order in Council, is below R.L. 330 State Datum; (c) in relation to any period commencing on a date appointed under section 11 and terminating on a date appointed in like manner, is below such level as is determined by the Governor in Council in relation to that period. 3. Owner of catchment area . It is hereby declared that Brisbane City Council is, and always has been since the same vested in it under The City of Brisbane (Water Supply) Act of 1959, the owner of the Somerset Dam Catchment Area to the exclusion of all other persons for the purpose of the making and levying of rates in respect of lands within that Area pursuant to The Local Government Act of 1936 as amended to the time of the making and levying of such rates. 4. Holders not liable for rates on submerged land. A person who. under a lease, holds from Brisbane City Council land that is or includes submerged land is not liable and shall be deemed never to have been liable since 1 July 1967 to pay any amount to Brisbane City Council or elsewhere on account of rates made and levied by a Local Authority or paid in respect of the submerged land. 5. Protection of holders . Notwithstanding the provisions of any lease under which is held land that is or includes submerged land- (a) the lease shall not be liable to be terminated upon breach of covenant or condition, (b) no right to renew the lease or other right thereby conferred that is conditional on the performance of covenants or conditions of the lease shall be denied, (c) no action shall be brought in any court, and (d) no penalty shall be incurred or recovered, by reason of a failure to pay any amount that is, by such lease, required to be paid by the holder from Brisbane City Council of such land on account of a rate made and levied by a Local Authority or paid in respect of the submerged land. This section applies whether the lease in question is entered into before or after the commencement of this Act. 6. Disposal of actions commenced . An action that was commenced before the passing of this Act and is of a kind barred by section 5 shall be struck out. 17

514 Somerset Dam Catchment Area Declaratory Act 1974, No. 51 7. Reimbursement of holders . (l) Where a holder from Brisbane City ^'ouncil of land that is or includes submerged land has paid to Brisbane City Council or elsewhere an amount referred to in section 4 Brisbane City Council shall pay to that person or, as the case requires, the legal personal representative of that person such amount within three months of the passing of this Act. (2) If Brisbane City Council fails to pay an amount required by subsection (I) to be paid by it within the time limited by that subsection the person to whom that amount should have been paid may recover from Brisbane City Council that amount as a debt due and owing to him or, in the case of a plaintiff who is a legal personal representative, to the person whose representative he is, by action in a court of competent jurisdiction. 8. Apportionment of rates. (1) In any case where, in the absence of agreement on the issue, it becomes necessary (for the purpose of giving effect to this Act) to ascertain what part of a rate made and levied or paid in respect of land within the Somerset Dam Catchment Area in relation to a particular period shall be apportioned to submerged land and what part of such rate shall be apportioned to other land, such apportionment shall be carried out as prescribed by this section and according to the formula- UVSL x R-where- UVWL the factor " UVSL" is the unimproved value of the submerged land in question at the time the rate to be apportioned was made and levied; the factor " UVWL" is the unimproved value of the whole of the land in respect of which the rate to be apportioned was made and levied at the time it was made and levied; the factor " R " is the amount of the rate to be apportioned; the unimproved values referred to in the formula are those ascertained by the Valuer General subject to this Act. (2) The amount ascertained according to the formula prescribed is the part of the rate that shall be apportioned to the submerged land in question. The part of the rate that shall be apportioned to the land in question other than submerged land is the amount equal to the difference between the whole rate made and levied in respect of the land in question and the amount ascertained according to the formula prescribed. (3) If a rate made and levied is discounted then, for the purpose of giving effect to this Act, the nett amount shall be taken to be the amount of the rate made and levied. (4) For the purposes of this Act, an amount duly apportioned to submerged land pursuant to this section shall be deemed to be a rate made and levied in respect of that submerged land and an amount duly apportioned to land' other than submerged land pursuant to this section shall be deemed to be a rate made and levied in respect of that land.

Somerset Dan: Catchment Area Declaratory Act 1974, No. 51 515 9. Ascertainment of value . (1) The unimproved value in the factor UVWL" referred to in section 8 shall be the value of the land in question, ascertained by the Valuer-General pursuant to the Valuation of Land Act1944-1974, which is, pursuant to that Act, the unimproved value of the land at the material time. (2) For the purpose of ascertaining the unimproved value in the factor UVSL" referred to in section 8 the Valuer-General is hereby authorised and required to ascertain the unimproved value of the submerged land at the material time as if such land were a separate parcel and without regard to the fact or extent of inundation of such land by the waters of Somerset Dam (defined in The City of Brisbane (Water Supply) Act of 1959) at the material time. The Valuer-General shall give written notification of the unimproved value of submerged land ascertained by him pursuant to this Act to Brisbane City Council and to the holder from Brisbane City Council of that land. (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act the unimproved value notified pursuant to subsection (2) shall not be the subject of any objection or appeal. 10. Adjustment of rate dependent on valuation . (1) If the value ascertained by the Valuer-General pursuant to the Valuation of LandAct1944-1974 of land within the Somerset Dam Catchment Area is reduced on objection or appeal and if in the circumstances defined in section 8 (1) it is necessary so to do the Valuer-General shall again ascertain the unimproved value of any submerged land to which the value applies in part, having regard to such reduction, and shall comply with section 9 (2) in connexion therewith whereupon- (a) the value so ascertained shall be the unimproved value of the submerged land in question at the material time in the factor " UVSL" referred to in section 8, in lieu of the value previously ascertained to be the unimproved value of that land at the same material time in that factor; and (b) if the amount duly payable according to the formula prescribed by section 8 by the holder of the submerged land in question on account of a rate made and levied by a Local Authority is thereby varied an appropriate adjustment shall be made in favour of the person entitled to it, within three months of the date when the amount of the adjustment becomes ascertainable. (2) If the amount of any adjustment is not paid to the person entitled to it within the time limited by subsection (1) the same may be recovered as a debt due and owing to him or, in the case of a plaintiff who is a legal personal representative, to the person whose representative he is, by action in a court of competent jurisdiction. 11. Determination of levels of submerged land. The Governor in Council may, from time to time by Order in Council, appoint a period and in relation to that period determine and therein specify a level (by reference to State Datum) below which level land within the Somerset Dam Catchment Area shall be submerged land for the purposes of this Act.

516 Somerset Dam Catchment Area Declarator y Act 1974, No. 51 Such a period may be appointed by specifying a date on which the period shall commence and, by the same or a subsequent Order in Council, specifying a date on which the period shall terminate.