Overview
Large infrastructure projects rarely commence with compulsory acquisition. The decisive work is usually undertaken earlier, when the project footprint is still being refined, access is being sought for surveys and investigations, and the proponent is seeking to move from concept corridor to a legally deliverable land access position.
Best Hooper Lawyers’ Property Team supports clients through that ‘pre-compulsory’ phase. The focus is practical and commercial: protecting asset value and operations, preserving future development optionality, and positioning the client for an evidence-based negotiation if acquisition ultimately proceeds under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (Vic) (LAC Act).
Project experience across Victoria’s major transmission program
Best Hooper Lawyers project experience includes land access, engagement strategy and acquisition readiness across major transmission and interconnector projects, including:
Western Renewables Link
The Western Renewables Link is a proposed new 190 kilometre overhead high-voltage transmission line intended to carry renewable energy from Bulgana in western Victoria to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west. The project has progressed through Victoria’s Environment Effects Statement (EES) pathway, with the Inquiry and Advisory Committee process underway prior to the Minister for Planning making their EES Assessment.
VNI West
VNI West is the proposed Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West. The Victorian section is approximately 240 kilometres, running from Bulgana to a proposed terminal station site at Tragowel, then connecting to the NSW section at the Murray River north of Kerang. VicGrid assumed responsibility for transmission network planning in Victoria, including accountability for VNI West, from 1 November 2025.
Marinus Link
Marinus Link is a proposed HVDC interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria. The proposal comprises two 750 MW HVDC cables, with 255 kilometres undersea and 90 kilometres underground HVDC cables between Burnie, Tasmania and Latrobe Valley, Victoria. The project has also announced major delivery contracts for Stage 1 works, signalling transition from assessment and design toward construction.
Why the pre-compulsory phase matters
In transmission and interconnector projects, the risk to a landowner is not limited to the final easement footprint. Early access and investigation activity can affect farm operations, biosecurity, irrigation layouts, future subdivision sequencing, quarry or extractive industries, and latent development potential. Commercial outcomes are usually shaped by:
- the quality of the access documentation used for surveys and investigations;
- the accuracy of the footprint and corridor assumptions being adopted in negotiations;
- the discipline of records and evidence from the outset; and
- the extent to which operational impacts are identified and costed early, rather than after the fact.
This is also the phase where a proponent’s engagement strategy tends to be most receptive to negotiated solutions, including micro-siting refinements, construction methodology commitments, and bespoke arrangements that do not readily sit in a ‘standard form’ acquisition offer.
Negotiation and engagement before acquisition by compulsion
A key feature of LAC Act is that compulsory acquisition is a procedure available to an authority, but it is not the only pathway. At any time before the acquiring the interest by compulsory process, an authority may acquire the interest by agreement with the owner.
In major projects, that practical reality drives our approach. We focus on proactive engagement and structured negotiation, with a clear objective of securing outcomes that are not easily achieved once the matter becomes fully time-driven under the compulsory process.
Common engagement and negotiation workstreams include:
Land access for surveys, geotechnical and environmental investigations
Before a final easement is settled, proponents typically require access for:
- surveying and pegging;
- geotechnical drilling and testing;
- ecological, cultural heritage and landscape and visual fieldwork; and
- constructability investigations and access route planning.
Where access is sought, the terms matter. Risk allocations for reinstatement, crop and pasture impacts, soil disturbance, weed and pathogen management, stock controls, and safety protocols should be clearly documented and enforceable.
Early works and temporary occupation
Even where the permanent interest is an easement, projects frequently require temporary occupation for laydown areas, access tracks, stringing sites, horizontal directional drilling compounds, or road interface works. Temporary rights often drive the highest operational impact, and they are best negotiated deliberately rather than conceded through informal access.
Footprint refinement and micro-siting outcomes
An infrastructure project’s ‘area of interest’ is generally refined through social, environmental, cultural and land use assessment and engagement to a draft corridor or project easement. Landowners benefit from treating footprint refinement as a negotiation lever, supported by evidence of how alternative alignments affect operational impact and value.
Aligning engagement with approvals processes
Projects such as Western Renewables Link are progressing through EES and public inquiry processes with public hearings. Engagement positions taken in the approvals phase often reappear later in access and acquisition negotiations. We help clients maintain a consistent, defensible position across both streams.
Agreements and documents we commonly advise on
In project work, the ‘transaction’ is rarely a single instrument. It is usually a suite of documents, staged over time, that must maintain clarity of rights and preserve the client’s position as the project progresses.
Depending on the project and the proponent, work commonly includes:
- access deeds and licences for investigations;
- confidentiality and information protocols, particularly where property strategy is sensitive;
- heads of agreement for easement terms, compensation principles and construction commitments;
- easement documentation, including bespoke conditions and land management controls;
- temporary occupation and early works agreements;
- deeds addressing reinstatement standards, monitoring and rectification processes; and
- neighbour, interface and shared access arrangements where multiple parcels are affected.
It is common for these agreements to intersect with existing leases, licences, financiers’ consent requirements, or future subdivision intentions, each of which must be managed so that the project does not unintentionally compromise value or bankability.
Managing LAC Act readiness and negotiation leverage
The pre-compulsory work should be undertaken with the assumption that, if matters escalate, the client will need:
- documented and enforceable obligations regarding access impacts and reinstatement performance;
- valuation inputs that distinguish between what is taken and the consequential impacts on the retained land and operations;
- a documented narrative of engagement, including alternatives proposed and responses received; and
- a clear understanding of which impacts are best dealt with contractually, and which should be preserved for compensation assessment.
Protecting separate identities and interests in complex holdings
Project corridors frequently traverse land held in layered structures. These may include: landowning entities, operating entities, agistment arrangements, licences for infrastructure, or multi-stage development holdings. Effective advice requires careful separation of:
- ownership interests versus operational interests;
- permanent impacts versus temporary construction impacts;
- losses that are readily costed versus those that require expert evidence; and
- matters best resolved through negotiated commitments versus those best preserved for statutory compensation pathways.
This separation is critical to avoiding under-claiming, double counting, or inadvertently conceding future rights during early engagement.
Best Hooper Lawyers’ experience
Best Hooper Lawyers’ Property Team has experience advising developers and sophisticated landowners on major infrastructure interfaces, including transmission projects and interconnectors. Our work typically focuses on negotiation and engagement before acquisition by compulsion, including access strategy, easement and temporary occupation documentation, footprint refinement outcomes, and acquisition readiness under LAC Act where the project proceeds toward compulsory steps. We approach these matters as integrated property, project delivery and risk allocation transactions, with a strong emphasis on protecting long-term land value and operational continuity.
In our experience, it is imperative to obtain Best Hooper’s legal advice as soon as a land owner or other interested person becomes aware of a project that may impact the property.
Best Hooper has the largest, experienced and most active claimant-focused compulsory acquisition and project response team in Victoria.
General information only
This page is general information only and is not legal advice. It is not intended to be relied on as a substitute for obtaining advice specific to your circumstances, project or transaction. Laws, policies and regulator practices can change, and the application of the law depends on the particular facts.
