171Improvements on an expired lease

171 Improvements on an expired lease

171 Improvements on an expired lease

(1) All improvements on leased areas vest in the State when the term of the lease expires or is otherwise terminated under this Part.

(2) The Minister may allow the former lessee to remove any such improvements.

(3) The Minister may, within 1 year after the termination of a lease, require the former lessee to remove any such improvements within the period notified in writing to the former lessee.

(3A) The Minister may, either on the application of the former lessee or on the Minister’s own initiative, vary or revoke a notice under subsection (3) by serving the variation or revocation, in writing, on the former lessee.

(3B) A former lessee who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a notice under this section is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

(4) If the former lessee fails to remove improvements in accordance with a notice under this section, the Minister or an agent of the Minister may—

(a) enter the area, and

(b) carry out such work as is necessary to remove the improvements.

(5) The Minister may sell or otherwise dispose of anything removed in accordance with subsection (4). The proceeds of such a sale are to be applied towards the costs and expenses of—

(a) the sale, and

(b) the disposal of anything removed but not sold, and

(c) the carrying out of the work concerned.

If the proceeds of sale (and of any forfeited bond or other security) are insufficient to enable those costs and expenses to be recouped, the balance can be recovered as a debt by the Minister by proceedings brought in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(6) A lessee who has applied for a renewal of the lease of a leased area cannot be required, as a condition of the granting of the renewal, to pay for any improvements to the area.

s 171: Am 2017 No 22, Sch 1.8 [3] [4].