Crown Land sale avoided statutory assessment

When Crown Land was sold at Woy Woy Bowling Club, it avoided the normal requirement for a statutory land assessment and for the sale to be conducted by a public competitive process.

A formal statutory "land assessment" for the sale of Crown Land at Woy Woy Bowling Club was not conducted, according to documents obtained under freedom of information legislation.

Instead a waiver from the requirement was given in 2009 because the sale was considered to be "in the public interest" and to abide by "the principles of Crown Land management".

The decision to sell direct to Woy Woy Holdings Pty Ltd was justified on the basis that "the limited development potential [of the land] will adversely impact on the land's marketability if sold by public competition".

The documents also state that the intention to sell Crown Land was advertised in a Central Coast newspaper in 2013 but not when the sale was later executed in 2015.

It was not advertised in Peninsula News.

The documents were obtained by the Save Woy Woy Waterfront community group under NSW Government Information Public Access laws.

The documents show that the Maitland office of the NSW Land and Property Management Authority decided, in 2009, to waive the need for a land assessment prior to the sale of the Crown Land to Woy Woy Holdings Pty Ltd.

According to the documents, "Part 4 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 provided for the Minister to sell, lease or otherwise deal with crown Land if he was satisfied that the land had been assessed under Part 3 of the Act.

"However, under Section 35(2) the Minister may waive the need for a land assessment prior to reallocation of Crown Land if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest and has had due regard to the principles of Crown Land management.

"A land assessment waiver report has been prepared by Crown Lands Division (Maitland) recommending that land assessment be waived and approval given to surrender of Lease ... and private treaty sale.

"Any sale of the land would be at market value, to be determined by a qualified valuer.

"Due to the site location and current development as part of the Woy Woy Bowling Club, it is not considered appropriate to proceed by way of public competition.

"Private treaty sale to the current tenure holder/adjoining land owner will achieve the most appropriate return to the Crown and will attract minimal sales costs.

"Prior to progressing the sale of the site, approvals under the Crown Lands Act are required as well as statutory advertising and the Department's involvement in preparation and execution of contracts and other documentation related to the sale and transfer of the property."

The document then recommended the Director of Land Management exercise delegation to waive the requirement for a land assessment "and in doing so is satisfied that it is in the public interest to exercise such delegation and that due regard has been given to the Principles of Crown Land Management."

The recommendation was endorsed by a program manager, supported by the regional manager and approved by the Director of Land Management.

The signed-off 2009 document had the following end note: "The sale of Crown leasehold estate Lot 369 DP 755251 will not be preceding at this time as the adjoining freehold land is not in the name of the holder of the Crown Lease."

The note explained that the holder had the right to make an application to purchase but due to the fact the bowling green on the Crown Land was also partially on adjoining freehold land and that adjoining freehold land was not, at that stage, in the name of the purchaser.

"The business rules related to private treaty sales require either an expressed interest on the land in question or own the adjoining freehold land otherwise disposal is by public competitive processes.

"Neither the purchaser or LPMA have completed due diligence process to address the matters of competitive neutrality and ICAC Direct Negotiations guidelines 2006 as such sale of Lot 369 can't proceed under private treaty arrangement.

"The purchaser will be advised of this in due course; however, the Waiver of Part 3 requirements may remain effective and be applied should the sale proceed under the governing business rules."

The report that arrived at the recommendation to waive the need for a land assessment also found that "the proposal to sell by private treaty to the current tenure holder/adjoining freehold land occupant is in accordance with departmental guidelines, practices and policies as well as State Government Policies".

It also found that the sale to the current tenure holder would "ensure that Treasury gained additional funds for allocation in accordance with State Government Priorities, remove the ongoing tenure administration costs currently being borne by the authority and result in reduced sale administration costs."

Correspondence between Crown Lands and the purchaser in 2013 raises questions about the price paid for the land in 2015.

The documents indicate that the purchaser had been told to expect to pay more than $38,000 for the land.

According to one email from a Crown Lands Group leader, "I have had a quick review of the files for this parcel of land and also the statutory land value (which is the value used by Councils for land rates and value used by government for land tax), based on this data I would expect the land value to be between $90,000 and $120,000.

"I do caution you the actual purchase price will be determined by a registered valuer and set by Crown Lands," it said.

In May 2014, the applicant was advised that the application would be referred to Strategic Proposals and Projects "as the proposed sale was not considered to be of low value".

The land had been the subject of a special lease for the purposes of recreation (bowling greens) since 1965, the documents said.

The lease was transferred to Woy Woy Holdings in 2012 after which the lease over the Crown Land was held in the same name as the ownership of the adjoining freehold land.

"The lessee is seeking to redevelop the club premises and incorporate landscaping on the Crown Land which is inconsistent with the lease purpose," it said.

In 2014, Crown Land's justification for a "direct deal" was that "the applicant has a legal interest in the land by virtue of the lease and is the only adjoining land owner.

"The limited development potential [of the land] will adversely impact on the land's marketability if sold by public competition.

"The land adjoins an extensive waterfront reserve with recreational facilities and sale will not adversely affect public use and enjoyment of the reserve."

Documents, 17 Aug 2018

Ross Cochrane, Save Woy Woy Waterfront