Property survey, legalisation and disposal

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) acquires property interests (land and/or property rights) to enable the construction of transport projects.

The property interest acquired is generally the freehold or leasehold title. Other interests obtained may include air or strata rights, spoil disposal, easements, licences for temporary entry or survey access.

If that property interest is no longer required for a current or future transport project, the property interest will need to be formally declared surplus and disposed of through the Crown land disposal process.

We have regionally based disposal managers who manage the disposal programmes for Waka Kotahi. Key areas of focus are:

• surveying and legalising the property towards the end of projects to confirm what part of property remains part our transport network and to determine what may be surplus to our requirements
• completion of formal disposal documentation and registration of surplus land on the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Crown land portal,
• negotiation with parties who may wish to buy the surplus land,
• oversee the work completed by the external accredited suppliers involved in the survey and disposal processes.

The formal aspects of the disposal process take place in accordance with the Public Works Act 1981.

The Public Works Act 1981 sets out the process for disposal of Crown land. The process is essentially a four step process that commences with the potential transfer from Crown to Crown /or Local Authority, offer back to former owners, sale to Iwi, and if not sold or transferred in the former steps the property can be offered for sale on the open market. The timelines vary for each stage of this process and could take several years to reach the open market.  

Disposal negotiations can only be undertaken by specialists accredited by Land Information New Zealand. The accredited specialists may undertake a range of functions, as required by Waka Kotahi, including some or all aspects of the keys areas of focus mentioned above.

LINZ ultimately validates each disposal agreement. The Waka Kotahi Board (or the appropriate delegated authority holder) must also approve each transaction.