The recent Court of Appeal decision of Mangoola Coal Operations Pty Limited v Muswellbrook Shire Council [2021] NSWCA 46 has examined the re-categorisation of land for the purpose of rates, pursuant to the Local Government Act 1993 (“the Act“).
Background
Mangoola Coal Operations Pty Limited (“Mangoola“) was the registered proprietor of various parcels of adjacent land in the Hunter Valley, NSW. The land the subject of this decision, one of parcels of land with an area approximately 6,600 hectares (“the Adjacent Parcel“) was land that was adjacent to another parcel of land owned by Mangoola which contained an open-cut coal mine (“the Mine Parcel“).
In 2012, Mangoola granted an access licence to Colinta Holdings Pty Ltd (“Colinta“), a cattle-grazing enterprise, in respect of the Adjacent Parcel. Prior to the 2016/2017 financial year, the Adjacent Parcel had been categorised by Muswellbrook Shire Council (“Council“) pursuant to s 514 of the Act as farmland for the dominant use.
