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New South Wales act
This Act treats any Crown sale, lease or disposal of land within specified parts of Helensburgh as covering only the upper 500 feet; all strata deeper than 500 feet are declared Crown land (s2). It also requires the Crown to pay any coal royalties it collects from beneath those lands to whoever is the registered surface owner at the time the royalty is collected (s3). The Act reallocates deep subterranean ownership to the Crown and creates a mechanism for passing mining royalties to surface title holders.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Helensburgh Leases Act 1911.
2 Land 500 feet below surface vested in Crown
Any sale, lease, or other disposal made before the commencement of this Act by the Crown under the Crown Lands Acts of any lands within the village and suburban boundaries of Helensburgh West, and of homestead selection area number two hundred and fifty-eight, notified in the Gazette of the fourteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, in the parish of Heathcote, county of Cumberland, shall be deemed to have included the lands comprised therein to a depth from the surface of five hundred feet and no deeper. The part of such lands of a greater depth than five hundred feet shall be deemed to have been from the date of such sale, lease, or disposal Crown lands within the meaning of the Act 37 Victoria No 13, and the Mining Act 1906.
3 Payment of royalty
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Mining Acts, or any amendments thereof or in this Act, the amounts collected by the Crown for royalty upon coal that at the date of the passing of this Act lies beneath the surface of any lands which come within the provisions of this Act shall be paid over by the Crown to the person or persons who at the date of the collection of such royalty are the registered owners of the portion or portions directly overlying the coal upon which such royalty has been collected.
Sourced from legislation.nsw.gov.au, CC BY 4.0.
1 Name of Act
This Act may be cited as the Helensburgh Leases Act 1911.
2 Land 500 feet below surface vested in Crown
Any sale, lease, or other disposal made before the commencement of this Act by the Crown under the Crown Lands Acts of any lands within the village and suburban boundaries of Helensburgh West, and of homestead selection area number two hundred and fifty-eight, notified in the Gazette of the fourteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, in the parish of Heathcote, county of Cumberland, shall be deemed to have included the lands comprised therein to a depth from the surface of five hundred feet and no deeper. The part of such lands of a greater depth than five hundred feet shall be deemed to have been from the date of such sale, lease, or disposal Crown lands within the meaning of the Act 37 Victoria No 13, and the Mining Act 1906.
3 Payment of royalty
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Mining Acts, or any amendments thereof or in this Act, the amounts collected by the Crown for royalty upon coal that at the date of the passing of this Act lies beneath the surface of any lands which come within the provisions of this Act shall be paid over by the Crown to the person or persons who at the date of the collection of such royalty are the registered owners of the portion or portions directly overlying the coal upon which such royalty has been collected.