Catchwords:

LAND LAW – compulsory acquisition of land – compensation – compensable interests in land – bare licence to occupy land terminable at will by owners – interest had no market value – meaning of “privilege over, or in connection with, land” – claim for compensation for losses attributable to disturbance – Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 (NSW), s 4, 59

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – definition of “interest” in land – interest included “privilege over, or in connection with, land” – reliance on statutory context – consistency of meaning – reliance on object to provide compensation – statute using language of ownership – interest able to be divested, extinguished or diminished by acquisition

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – precedent – challenge to earlier decisions of Court of Appeal – whether court comfortably satisfied reasoning in earlier decisions wrong – Hornsby Council v Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales (1997) 41 NSWLR 151 – Dial A Dump Industries Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services (2017) 94 NSWLR 554; [2017] NSWCA 73 considered

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – extrinsic materials – legislative history – substantial amendments made without changing effect of precedent