Mining Access Agreements including Coal Seam Gas Agreements.

Many landholders are approached by mining companies about land access agreements.

Both the Mining Act 1992 NSW and the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 NSW require these agreements to be put in place.

Commonly landholders are affected by requests from coal mining companies or coal seam gas companies. If no agreement is reached, the law requires the Land & Environment Court to determine the terms of the agreement. Currently (and controversially) refusing access to the land entirely is not supported by the law.

Access Agreement Details.

Each of these Acts allows for an Access Agreement to include the following:

• the periods during which the holder of the prospecting title can accessto the land
• the parts of the land on which the holder of the prospecting title may prospect
• means of access to those parts of the land
• the kinds of prospecting operations that may be carried out in or on the land
• the conditions to be observed when prospecting in or on the land
• measures to protect the environment in or on the land [Petroleum (Onshore) Act only]
• the compensation to be paid as a consequence of carrying out prospecting operations
• the manner of resolving any dispute
• the manner of varying the arrangement
• the notification of details of any person who becomes an additional landholder

Reasonable Legal Fees Covered by the Mining Company.

Each Act specifies that the person or company applying for the Access Agreement with the landholder is required to pay the reasonable legal costs of the landholder in obtaining initial advice about the making of the arrangement.

This means you can claim the cost of getting professional legal advice on the Access Agreement as part of the compensation payment.

Macmillans Waller Fry Solicitors can give you the right advice, the first time. 

James Ryan should be contacted at the Macmillans Waller Fry - Solicitors office to provide advice regarding access agreements, planning or Environmental Law issues.

Simply call us on (02) 4933 5355 or complete our contact form for a prompt reply.