LAND RESUMPTION NEWS - $510,000.00 SECURED IN COSTS

Legal and other costs paid by resuming authority may now outweigh compensation paid by Department of Transport and Main Roads

Kelly Legal is pleased to announce its client, Mr Clive Desbois, has been paid the sum of $510,000.00 for costs associated with his successful claim for compensation against the Department of Transport and Main Roads after his land was compulsorily resumed for the Mackay Ring Road.  The costs paid by the Department of Transport and Main are in addition to the $1,018,385.00 (plus interest) that was previously awarded to Mr Desbois as compensation for the value of his land that was resumed.  It is also in addition to the costs that the Department was ordered to pay Mr Desbois after an appeal to the Land Appeal Court was successfully determined in his favour.

Background

The payment of costs is the final step in what has been a long process for Mr Desbois, who was forced to commence proceedings after the Department of Transport and Main Roads resumed his land in 2016 and offered him $67,000.00 for it.  After a lengthy litigation process involving expert evidence and a week-long trial, in late 2021 Mr Desbois was awarded compensation totalling $948,961.00.   This amount was later increased following a successful appeal by Mr Desbois, with the amount of compensation payable to Mr Desbois being increased to $1,018,385.00 plus interest.  The Department was also required to pay Mr Desbois’ costs.

Comment 

Given the amount of costs that the Department has now been ordered to pay Mr Desbois for both the initial Land Court hearing, and the appeal to the Land Appeal Court, as well as the costs that would have been paid to the Department’s own lawyers and experts,  it may now be the case that the costs incurred by the Department of Transport and Main Roads in fighting Mr Desbois’ claim for compensation will exceed the compensation that it was ultimately ordered to pay. 



If it is the case that the Department is willing to spend more on costs than what the landowner is entitled to be paid for compensation, then (as we have previously written here), we consider it is an appropriate time for a review of Queensland’s compensation laws, particularly regarding the costs provisions which, when compared to every other state and territory, could be interpreted as a deterrent to dispossessed land-owners seeking compensation through the Court system.