A 15-hectare greenfield site near Belongil Beach was massively overvalued by the NSW Valuer General, the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) has found.
In a decision which could set a precedent for dozens of future land valuations in the Shire, the L&EC last week overturned a land valuation for a vacant parcel of land on the corner of Kendall Street and Ewingsdale Road, Byron Bay.
The court found that it was worth just 10 per cent of the value ascribed by the Valuer General.
Owned by Hammock Investments Pty Ltd since the late 1980s, the land is one of the few large, undeveloped sites in the vicinity of Belongil Beach.
With property prices in this precinct soaring into the stratosphere over the last 10 years, the Valuer General valued the land at $8 million back in 2022.
While such a valuation might have a developer breaking out the Dom Perignon, the folk at Hammock Investments had the opposition reaction.
Having tried unsuccessfully to have the site rezoned to residential for nigh on two decades, they were now facing a very substantial land tax bill that, in their view, did not reflect the land’s true worth.
They appealed the valuation to the L&EC, which heard the matter on October 24.
Acting Commissioner, Maureen Peatman, heard that the vacant site was a mixture of grassed and vegetated areas stretching north to Belongil Creek and east to the old train line.
It had a mix of zonings, including Rural Landscape, Environmental Conservation and Environmental Management.
Assistant Commissioner Peatman’s job was to determine what the most profitable, potential use of the land was.
As part of this, she needed to determine whether there was a realistic prospect that the land might be rezoned for residential development in the next 10 years.
It was agreed by both sides that much of the land was flood-prone, meaning that any residential development would require significant fill beforehand. Such fill could potentially have a negative effect on adjoining properties, the court heard.
It was further agreed that the land currently has no dwelling entitlements, had high biodiversity values, and was affected by acid sulphate soil contamination.
However, the court also heard that Byron Council’s first residential strategy (2020) had identified the area for possible residential development.
This was not accepted by the Department of Planning and Environment, and it is understood the site was not included in the final version of the strategy approved by the department earlier this year.
From $8m to $810k
This was enough to convince Assistant Commissioner Peatman, who found that, far from being worth $8m, the site is worth a much more modest $810,000.
As a result of the decision, Hammock Investments is facing a massively reduced land tax bill for the site.
It is not known whether the company will continue to seek a rezoning for the land, given that is has argued in court that it is effectively unable to be developed.
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