This Act contains several features that practitioners and affected parties should treat as potential operational traps or points requiring careful action.
Non-revocable dedication and non-revocable manager appointment: The dedication of the Luna Park site to the specified public purposes is stated to be non-revocable under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (s 5A(2)), and the Trust’s appointment as Crown land manager cannot be revoked (s 5B(2)(a)). Those textual limits mean standard administrative pathways for changing land classification or appointing alternate managers under the Crown Land Management Act will not apply to this site. That can constrain future policy flexibility.
Plan of management displacement by lease: Section 6E provides that a plan of management does not prevent the grant of leases for authorised cliff top uses, and while such a lease permits those uses the plan of management does not apply to that part of the cliff top area while the lease is in force (s 6E(1)-(2)). This is a concrete mechanism where an incoming lessee can obtain rights that supersede plan-of-management constraints for the leased area, with the result that a plan’s content (including otherwise mandatory constraints) may be displaced for the term of a lease.
Noise immunity carve-outs: Section 19A creates a broad immunity for noise, barring criminal and civil proceedings and specific administrative noise-abatement actions. The immunity does not apply if noise exceeds the maximum permissible noise level at the closest residential façade (s 19A(1)-(3)). Practitioners must note the multi-part test: identify the closest residential façade; apply the defined maximum (85 dB(A) LA10, 15mins) unless regulations specify otherwise; and measure according to the cited Australian Standards (s 19A(5)(a)-(e)). Failure to use the correct measurement standard or to identify the correct façade can be litigated.
Timing-driven arbitration and forfeiture windows: Compensation claims must be made within three months after notice of appointment of the arbitrator is given to the lessee (s 13(4)). For removal of improvements, the lessee has to apply no later than three months after such date as the Minister may notify for an application (s 14(2)), and if removal approval is granted the lessee has three months to remove the improvement before forfeiture to the Crown occurs (s 14(4)). These strict timeframes create risks of forfeiture and loss of compensation if deadlines are missed.
Ministerial and regulatory discretion: Section 5B(2)(f) allows regulations under this Act to prescribe kinds of functions for the purposes of section 3.27(2)(c) of the Crown Land Management Act 2016 in addition to those prescribed by regulations under that Act, and as a consequence written Ministerial consent is not required for the exercise of such functions by the Trust. That creates an avenue by which regulation can expand the Trust’s delegated functions without written ministerial consent, affecting oversight and accountability arrangements.
Measurement standards and numerical default: The maximum permissible noise level default is set numerically (85 dB(A) LA10, 15 mins) unless the regulations prescribe another level (s 19A(5)(a)-(b)). The Act ties measurement to dated Australian Standards (AS 1055.1,1997; AS 1259.1,1990; AS 2659.1,1988) as in force from time to time (s 19A(5)(c)-(e)). Parties must be careful about which edition applies and how "as in force from time to time" will be interpreted in practice, and about whether later regulatory change can alter the numerical threshold.
Extinguishment of pre-1990 claims: Section 9 broadly extinguishes claims and demands against the Crown arising before 6 June 1990 relating to the Luna Park site, but Part 4 creates a limited statutory route for the lessee to claim compensation. Practitioners must check whether prior court determinations are preserved to bar new claims because s 10(3) excludes lessee claims where courts previously found determination and no entitlement to relief.
Overlap with planning and environmental regimes: The Act preserves the operation of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act but excludes planning section 121B from the non-limitation in s 19A(4). The practical effect can be nuanced: some planning enforcement or conditions may continue to apply while other environmental noise-based actions are curtailed. Careful cross-referencing of consents, conditions and enforcement regimes is necessary.
Regulatory gap risks: The Governor may make regulations for matters necessary to give effect to the Act and regulations may prescribe additional authorised uses or maximum noise levels (s 23; s 19A(5)(b); s 6B(d); s 6C(e)). The Act leaves open many operational details to regulation, creating uncertainty until regulations are promulgated.
Definition sensitivity: Key statutory meanings, such as "closest residential façade" and "maximum permissible noise level", determine where the s 19A immunity applies. Small factual differences in how the façade is located or how multiple noise sources are treated may change whether immunity attaches (s 19A(5)). The Act’s definition of "the lessee" in s 4 includes persons to whom the estate has been lawfully assigned and, if the lease was determined, the person who immediately before determination was the lessee, producing specific identity and standing implications for compensation claims.