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Resource Management Act 1991

Designations and heritage orders - Designations

185: Environment Court may order taking of land

You could also call this:

“ The Environment Court can tell someone to buy your land if it's needed for a special project ”

If your land is affected by a designation or requirement, you can ask the Environment Court to make the authority responsible for it buy or lease your land. You need to fill out a special form and give a copy to the authority and the local council.

The court might tell the authority to buy or lease your land if you’ve tried to sell it at a fair price but couldn’t because of the designation. This can happen if the designation stops you from using your land normally, or if you (or your partner) owned the land when the designation was made.

Before deciding, the court might ask you to try selling your land again. If the court decides the authority should buy your land, it’s treated like you’ve made a deal with them under the Public Works Act 1981.

If the authority is a network utility operator (like a power or water company), the Minister of Lands will act for them. The operator will have to pay back any costs the Minister has for buying the land.

When working out how much your land is worth, they’ll pretend the designation doesn’t exist. This means you’ll get a fair price for your land.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM236297.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Town planning
Environment and resources > Land use
Housing and property > Buying and selling homes
Government and voting > Local councils
Previous

184A: Lapsing of designations of territorial authority in its own district, or

“When a local council sets aside land for a special purpose, they have five years to use it or it expires, unless they take specific actions to keep it longer.”

Next

186: Compulsory acquisition powers, or

“The government can take land for important projects, but must follow special rules and pay the owners”

Part 8 Designations and heritage orders
Designations

185Environment Court may order taking of land

  1. An owner of an estate or interest in land (including a leasehold estate or interest) that is subject to a designation or requirement under this Part may apply at any time to the Environment Court for an order obliging the requiring authority responsible for the designation or requirement to acquire or lease all or part of the owner's estate or interest in the land under the Public Works Act 1981.

  2. An application under subsection (1) shall be in the prescribed form and a copy of the application shall be served upon the requiring authority and the relevant territorial authority by the applicant.

  3. The Environment Court may make an order applied for under subsection (1) if it is satisfied that—

  4. the owner has tried but been unable to enter into an agreement for the sale of the estate or interest in the land subject to the designation or requirement at a price not less than the market value that the land would have had if it had not been subject to the designation or requirement; and
    1. either—
      1. the designation or requirement prevents reasonable use of the owner's estate or interest in the land; or
        1. the applicant was the owner, or the spouse, civil union partner, or de facto partner of the owner, of the estate or interest in the land when the designation or requirement was created.

        2. Before making an order under subsection (1) the court may direct the owner to take further action to try to sell the estate or interest in the land.

        3. If the Environment Court makes an order to take an estate or interest in land under the Public Works Act 1981, the owner of that estate or interest shall be deemed to have entered into an agreement with the requiring authority responsible for the designation or requirement for the purposes of section 17 of the Public Works Act 1981.

        4. Where subsection (5) applies in respect of a requiring authority which is a network utility operator approved under section 167—

        5. any agreement shall be deemed to have been entered into with the Minister of Lands on behalf of the network utility operator as if the land were required for a government work; and
          1. all costs and expenses incurred by the Minister of Lands in respect of the acquisition of the land shall be recoverable from the network utility operator as a debt due to the Crown.

            1. The amount of compensation payable for an estate or interest in land ordered to be taken under this section shall be assessed as if the designation or requirement had not been created.

            Notes
            • Section 185 heading: amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
            • Section 185(1): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
            • Section 185(3): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
            • Section 185(3)(b)(ii): amended, on , by section 7 of the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 (2005 No 3).
            • Section 185(4): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
            • Section 185(5): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).