(02) 8379 1277
law@fmlegal.com.au
August 19, 2024
FM Legal
Once EnergyCo has made the decision to acquire an easement over your property for high voltage electricity lines, the first piece of correspondence will be an opening letter. The opening letter is a very important communication and is the start of the formal compulsory acquisition process.
The opening letter will provide some justification of why the land is required in order to satisfy EnergyCo’s legal requirement of the privately owned land being required for the public purpose. In the case of EnergyCo, this will be to provide electricity transmission lines to provide power for NSW due to the renewable energy transition (or words to that affect).
Most importantly to EnergyCo, the letter will state that this is the start of the six month negotiation period prior to the issue of a Property Acquisition Notice (PAN). This guarantees EnergyCo a timeframe to acquire the land (either by commercial agreement in the first six months or through court proceedings) to enable them to meet the project timeframes. The six month timeframe is a minimum, and it can be extended at EnergyCo’s discretion or if the landowner sees no prospect of agreement they can request a PAN to start the compulsory process.
The opening letter will also outline that the landowner has the right to retain a lawyer and property valuer at the cost of the Government. Our experience indicates that land owners who retain a lawyer and property valuer achieve greatly improved financial outcomes due to the experience they bring and also to avoid bullying of land owners to sign agreements quickly.
An invitation will also be extended to meet with EnergyCo, usually through there communications team. Our experience is these meetings are very one sided- EnergyCo will not disclose any information beyond what is available on there website and instead focus on obtaining as much information from the landowner on their financial situation, the nature of any business’ operating on the site and the landowners personal circumstances in order to obtain a commercial advantage.
It is imperative not to meet with EnergyCo (each and every time) without your lawyer being present (and property valuer if appropriate). The best results for land owners are obtained with expert advice from an
experienced compulsory acquisition lawyer and property valuer. As this is a specialised area of the law, expert advice from a specialist firm is required and yield much greater results than a generalist firm of lawyers you may have used for buying your property or general commercial matters.
Finally- don’t be rushed by EnergyCo.
A calm head and expert advice will get the most compensation.
If you have a question get in touch with our team.
