{"id":"metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972","name":"Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972","slug":"metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105948,"registerId":"sa-metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972","content":"South Australia\nMetropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972\nAn Act to provide for the preparation of a Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan and for purposes connected therewith or incidental thereto.\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tDefinitions\n4\tApplication of Act\n5\tCommissioner to prepare Plan\n6\tCertain building work not to be carried out without consent of Commissioner\n7\tEffect of building work carried out in contravention of section 6\n8\tApplication for consent etc\n9\tPowers of Commissioner\n10\tRegulations\nLegislative history\n\nThe Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:\n1—Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972.\n3—Definitions\n\t(1)\tIn this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—\nbuilding includes part of a building;\nbuilding work means—\n\t(a)\tany work that is for the time being building work within the meaning of the Building Act 1970; and\n\t(b)\tany other work that may be prescribed,\nbut does not include any work or any work of a class or kind for the time being declared by the Minister under subsection (2) of this section not to be building work for the purposes of this Act;\nCouncil means a municipal or district council and includes any body corporate vested with the powers of a municipal or district council pursuant to any Act;\nland to which this Act applies means land to which, pursuant to section 4 of this Act, this Act for the time being applies;\nroad means any street, road, thoroughfare, terrace, court, lane, alley, cul-de-sac or place commonly used by the public, or to which the public are permitted to have access;\nthe Commissioner means the Commissioner of Highways appointed by or pursuant to the Highways Act 1926;\nthe Plan means the Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan as deposited pursuant to section 5 of this Act and includes that plan as from time to time amended or varied by an amendment or variation as so deposited.\n\t(2)\tThe Minister may by notice in the Gazette declare any work not to be building work for the purposes of this Act and may by notice published in a like manner amend, vary or revoke any such declaration.\n4—Application of Act\n\t(1)\tThis Act shall apply to all land shown on the Plan as possibly required for road widening and all land within six metres of the boundary of that land.\n\t(1a)\tThis Act shall cease to apply to any land referred to in subsection (1) of this section when—\n\t(a)\ta plan is deposited under section 27B of the Highways Act 1926 relating to that land; or\n\t(b)\tthat land is otherwise acquired by the Commissioner for road widening purposes,\nwhichever event first occurs.\n\t(2)\tNothing in this Act contained shall limit or restrict the generality of the application of the Highways Act 1926.\n5—Commissioner to prepare Plan\n\t(1)\tThe Commissioner shall prepare a plan to be known as the \"Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan\" and the Commissioner may from time to time amend or vary that plan.\n\t(2)\tThe Plan shall be deposited with the Registrar-General of Deeds in the General Registry Office at Adelaide pursuant to the provisions of the Registration of Deeds Act 1935, as amended, and any amendments or variations to the Plan shall be deposited in a like manner.\n6—Certain building work not to be carried out without consent of Commissioner\nA person shall not, without the consent of the Commissioner, suffer or permit any building work to be carried out on land to which this Act applies.\n7—Effect of building work carried out in contravention of section 6\nNotwithstanding any other Act or law, the value of any building work carried out in contravention of section 6 of this Act and (without limiting the generality of the foregoing) any enhancement in the value of any building or structure arising from that building work shall not be taken into account in fixing the compensation payable in respect of land acquired by the Commissioner for road widening purposes.\n8—Application for consent etc\n\t(1)\tAn application for the consent of the Commissioner under this Act shall be made in the prescribed manner and shall contain the prescribed particulars.\n\t(2)\tThe Commissioner shall within thirty days of receipt of an application for consent—\n\t(a)\tgrant his consent; or\n\t(b)\trefuse his consent; or\n\t(c)\tgrant his consent subject to such conditions as are contained therein.\n\t(3)\tIf within the period of thirty days referred to in subsection (2) of this section the Commissioner has not taken any of the steps referred to in that subsection it shall be presumed that he has granted his consent.\n\t(4)\tFor the purposes of this Act, building work carried out in contravention of, or a breach of any condition of a consent given under this section shall be deemed to have been carried out without the consent of the Commissioner.\n\t(5)\tIn any proceedings arising from a claim for compensation in respect of land acquired by the Commissioner for road widening purposes it shall lie upon the claimant to prove that any building work referred to in section 7 of this Act was carried out with the consent of the Commissioner.\n\t(6)\tAny condition that is imposed in a consent given under this section shall be binding on the person in relation to whom the consent was given and upon the successors in title or occupancy of that person.\n9—Powers of Commissioner\nThe Commissioner may enter into any arrangements with any Council for the purposes of facilitating the making of application by any person for the consent of the Commissioner under this Act and such arrangements shall have effect as if they were enacted in this Act.\n10—Regulations\nThe Governor may make such regulations as are necessary or expedient for giving effect to the powers and objects of this Act.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal Act and amendments\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nTitle\nAssent\nCommencement\n1972\n98\nMetropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972\n9.11.1972\n1.1.1974 (Gazette 1.11.1973 p2722)\n1976\n56\nMetropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act Amendment Act 1976\n11.11.1976\n1.5.1977 (Gazette 24.3.1977 p885)\nProvisions amended since 3 February 1976\n\t•\tLegislative history prior to 3 February 1976 appears in marginal notes and footnotes included in the consolidation of this Act contained in Volume 7 of The Public General Acts of South Australia 1837-1975 at page 254.\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\ns 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n\ns 3\n\n\ns 3(1)\ns 3 redesignated as s 3(1) by 56/1976 s 3(d)\n1.5.1977\nbuilding work\nsubstituted by 56/1976 s 3(a)\n1.5.1977\nland to which this Act applies\ninserted by 56/1976 s 3(b)\n1.5.1977\nstructure\ndeleted by 56/1976 s 3(c)\n1.5.1977\ns 3(2)\ninserted by 56/1976 s 3(d)\n1.5.1977\ns 4\n\n\ns 4(1)\nsubstituted by 56/1976 s 4\n1.5.1977\ns 4(1a)\ninserted by 56/1976 s 4\n1.5.1977\ns 6\namended by 56/1976 s 5(a)\n1.5.1977\n\n(a) and (b) repealed by 56/1976 s 5(b)\n1.5.1977\ns 7\namended by 56/1976 s 6\n1.5.1977\ns 8\n\n\ns 8(5)\nsubstituted by 56/1976 s 7\n1.5.1977\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: controlling development on land reserved for potential road widening. The 1976 amendments refined definitions and added the automatic cessation mechanism (s 4(1a)) when land is formally acquired, but this was a technical improvement rather than scope expansion. No creeping expansion into unrelated planning or development control areas."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 10 operative sections (one omitted)","Minimal cross-referencing — primarily links to the Highways Act 1926, Building Act 1970, and Registration of Deeds Act 1935","Straightforward conditional logic: 30-day deemed consent provision (s 8(3)) and automatic cessation trigger (s 4(1a))","Only 7 defined terms in s 3(1), with one delegated definition power (Minister may declare works excluded)","Single amendment Act (1976) integrated into consolidation — original structure remains intact","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions beyond the 30-day deemed consent mechanism"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act gives the South Australian government a way to control what gets built near roads that might need to be widened in the future. It stops people from putting up buildings (or doing other construction work) on land that has been earmarked for possible road expansion, unless they get permission first.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Property owners** whose land is shown on the \"Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan\" or sits within 6 metres of such land\n- **The Commissioner of Highways** — the official who prepares the Plan, approves or rejects building applications, and eventually acquires the land for roads\n- **Local councils** — who can make arrangements with the Commissioner to help process applications\n\n**How it works:**\n\n- The Commissioner creates and maintains a Plan showing which land might be needed for wider roads\n- If your property is on or near that land, you **cannot do any building work without the Commissioner's consent**\n- The Commissioner has **30 days** to approve, reject, or add conditions to your application. If they don't respond in time, consent is automatically granted\n- **The sting:** If you build without consent, you get **no compensation** for that building work when the government later acquires your land for the road. The value of any unauthorised construction is completely ignored when calculating what the government pays you\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis prevents a common problem in infrastructure planning: people building expensive structures on land the government plans to acquire, then demanding full compensation for those structures. It keeps the cost of road widening down and stops last-minute development from blocking future transport projects. The Act automatically stops applying to specific parcels once they're formally acquired or a dedicated plan is deposited under the Highways Act."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s amendments and provisions refine administrative and procedural detail (definitions of \"building work\", the 6‑metre buffer, the 30‑day presumption, the Minister’s power to exclude classes of work, and the mechanism by which the Plan is deposited). These changes clarify how the statutory scheme operates but remain within the original, narrow purpose of preparing and enforcing a metropolitan road‑widening plan and protecting the State’s ability to acquire land for widening. The Act has not grown significantly beyond its original focus on preserving land for future road widening and controlling development on that land."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: 10 operative sections (concise statutory text)","Few defined terms but important cross-references: Building Act 1970, Highways Act 1926, Registration of Deeds Act 1935","Ministerial power to declare classes of work outside the Act (s.3(2)) introduces delegated discretion","Application scope has a geographic buffer (land shown on Plan and land within 6 metres) and an exit condition when acquisition or separate plan occurs (s.4(1), s.4(1a))","Presumption of consent if the Commissioner does not act within 30 days (s.8(3)) — a time‑based procedural clause","Onus provision: claimant must prove consent when seeking compensation (s.8(5))","Conditions on consent bind successors in title (s.8(6)) — affects future transactions","Commissioner may enter arrangements with Councils with statutory effect (s.9)","Section 7 excludes value added by unauthorised works from compensation, creating a consequential valuation rule"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- It requires the Commissioner of Highways to prepare and keep on file a \"Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan\" showing land that may be needed for future road widening (s.5). The plan and any amendments are to be deposited in the land records (s.5).  \n- The Act applies to all land shown on that plan as possibly required for widening and to land within six metres of that land (s.4(1)). The Act stops applying to a particular parcel once the Commissioner acquires it for road widening or when a separate plan under the Highways Act is deposited for that land (s.4(1a)).  \n- If the Act applies to land, no one may permit building work on that land without the Commissioner’s consent (s.6). \"Building work\" is defined by reference to the Building Act 1970 and by any additional works prescribed, but the Minister may also declare classes of work to be outside the Act (s.3).  \n- If building work is carried out without the Commissioner’s consent (or in breach of the consent conditions), any increase in the value of the land or building caused by that work is not to be counted when the Commissioner later pays compensation for acquiring the land for road widening (s.7, s.8(4)).  \n- Applications for the Commissioner’s consent must follow the prescribed form and include prescribed details. The Commissioner has 30 days to grant, refuse, or grant with conditions; if he does nothing in 30 days consent is presumed (s.8(1)–(3)). Any conditions attached to consent bind successors in title (s.8(6)).  \n- The Commissioner may make arrangements with local councils to help people make applications, and those arrangements take effect as if written into this Act (s.9). The Governor may make regulations to implement the Act (s.10).\n\nWho this affects and who decides\n\n- Affected parties: owners and occupiers of land shown (or within six metres of land shown) on the Road Widening Plan, and anyone proposing building work on that land (s.4, s.6).  \n- Decision-maker: the Commissioner of Highways (referred to as \"the Commissioner\") controls consent to building work on affected land (s.5, s.6, s.8).  \n- Local councils can be used by the Commissioner to facilitate applications but do not replace the Commissioner’s decision-making power (s.9).\n\nWhy it matters (practical effects)\n\n- It preserves the state’s ability to acquire land for future road widening without being required to compensate owners for value added by unauthorised building work (s.7).  \n- It controls development on land likely needed for road widening by making consent compulsory and by allowing conditions that bind future owners (s.6, s.8(6)).  \n- It creates a procedural pathway (application, 30‑day decision window, presumed consent) that affects how quickly development proposals are cleared or blocked (s.8).  \n\nStated purpose and a practical check on costs and incentives\n\n- The Act’s stated purpose is to provide for a Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan and related matters (short title and s.5). The practical mechanism is to reduce the risk that owners will build in ways that frustrate future widening projects or inflate compensation claims.\n\n- Who pays: property owners bear the direct cost risk of building without consent — any uplift in value from unauthorised building work will be excluded from compensation if the Commissioner later acquires the land (s.7).  \n- Who decides: the Commissioner decides whether building can proceed and may attach conditions; the Minister may exclude classes of work from the Act by Gazette notice (s.3(2), s.8).  \n- Behaviour changes: prospective builders are incentivised to apply for consent before starting work; some work may be deferred or altered to avoid losing compensation rights. Councils may be co-opted to process or assist applications (s.9).\n\nTrade-offs, implementation risks and burdens\n\n- Trade-offs: the Act protects the public interest in reserving land for roads but reduces owners’ freedom to develop and limits their compensation if they proceed without consent (s.6, s.7).  \n- Compliance burden: applicants must use prescribed forms and supply prescribed particulars; conditions imposed are binding on future owners (s.8(1), s.8(6)).  \n- Administrative discretion and risk: the Commissioner has broad discretion to grant, refuse or condition consent within a 30‑day period; silence converts to consent after 30 days, creating a de facto deadline (s.8(2)–(3)). The Minister’s power to declare classes of work outside the Act (s.3(2)) and the Governor’s power to make regulations (s.10) expand administrative levers that can change operational scope without amending the Act itself.  \n- Interaction with other law: the Act operates alongside the Highways Act 1926 (especially for acquisition, s.4(2) and s.4(1a)) and relies on definitions in the Building Act 1970 for what counts as building work (s.3). Those cross-references create practical dependency on other statutes and their procedures.\n\nNet practical effect in plain terms\n\nProperty owners whose land is on the road‑widening plan (or within six metres of it) must get the Commissioner’s consent before doing building work. If they ignore that rule, any extra value their work creates will not be paid to them if the State later buys the land for widening. The Commissioner must process applications quickly (30 days) and can attach conditions that follow the land even if ownership changes. The Minister and Governor retain secondary powers to narrow the Act’s reach or add regulations.\n"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be determined — the legislative text was not available for review. No comparison between original intent and current provisions is possible."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source page returned a 404 error","Analysis is based solely on the Act's title; no provisions, schedules, or definitions could be assessed","Complexity score reflects inability to analyse content, not necessarily the Act's true complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"The Metropolitan Adelaide Road Widening Plan Act 1972 (SA) is a 1972 South Australian law establishing a road‑widening scheme for metropolitan Adelaide. It likely reserves strips of private land along corridors so the government can later acquire them for expansion, affecting property owners by limiting development and use.\n\nThis matters for landholders, buyers and developers in affected areas — check the state legislation site or get legal advice if you’re impacted."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972","history":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972/history","analysis":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/metropolitan-adelaide-road-widening-plan-act-1972/documents"}}