An Act to provide for the Hawkesbury Racecourse to be continued as a public reserve for horseracing and other purposes; to provide for the assets, rights and liabilities of the Hawkesbury Race Club to vest in a body corporate to be formed by the members of the club; and to repeal the Hawkesbury Racecourse Act of 1890.
1 Name of Act
This Act is the Hawkesbury Racecourse Act 1996.
2 Commencement
This Act commences on a day to be appointed by proclamation.
3 Definitions
In this Act:assets means any legal or equitable estates or interests (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent) in real or personal property of any description (including money), and includes securities, choses in action and documents.Hawkesbury Racecourse means the land described in Schedule 1.liabilities means any liabilities, debts or obligations (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent).rights means all rights, powers, privileges and immunities (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent).the former club means the members of the unincorporated body known as the Hawkesbury Race Club.the former trustee, in relation to the Hawkesbury Racecourse, means the trustee for the Racecourse holding office under Division 4 of Part 5 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 immediately before the commencement of this Act.the incorporated club means the body corporate declared by the Minister under this Act to be the incorporated Hawkesbury Race Club.the reserve trust means the reserve trust referred to in section 5.
4 Status of racecourse
(1) The deed-poll or grant from the Crown, dated 27 July 1883, granting Hawkesbury Racecourse to Benjamin Richards, Andrew Town, Henry M’Quade, William Gosper, William Dargin, John Henry Crowley and Thomas Richards junior, is, to the extent that it applies to the Hawkesbury Racecourse, cancelled and revoked.(2) The Hawkesbury Racecourse is declared to be land vested in the Crown that is dedicated under section 80 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 for the following public purposes:(a) for use as a racecourse,(b) for use as a training ground,(c) for use as a sports ground,(d) for any other form of public amusement or public purpose (whether or not related to sports) that the Governor has, by order published in the Gazette, declared to be a form of public amusement or public purpose for which the Racecourse or a specified part of the Racecourse is permitted to be used.(3) Part 5 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 (Dedication and reservation of land), and such of the other provisions of that Act as are relevant to the operation of that Part, apply to the Hawkesbury Racecourse.(4) Nothing in this section affects the operation of any lease of the Hawkesbury Racecourse that was in force immediately before the commencement of this Act.(5) No attornment to the reserve trust by a lessee or sublessee from the former trustee is required.
5 Continuation of reserve trust
For the purposes of Division 4 of Part 5 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 (Formation of reserve trusts):(a) the former trustee continues as a reserve trust and as a corporation constituted by that Act with the corporate name of “Hawkesbury Racecourse Reserve Trust”, and(b) the appointment of the reserve trust as trustee of the Hawkesbury Racecourse is confirmed, and(c) each person holding office as a member of the trust board of the former trustee immediately before the commencement of this Act continues in office as a member of the trust board of the reserve trust.
6 Incorporation of former club
(1) Nothing in the Hawkesbury Racecourse Act of 1890 prevents the former club from being incorporated under any law enabling persons to form a body corporate.(2) On being satisfied that the former club has become incorporated as a body corporate, the Minister must, by notice in writing published in the Gazette, declare the body corporate to be the incorporated Hawkesbury Race Club for the purposes of this Act.
7 Vesting of assets, rights and liabilities of former club
(1) On the date of publication of the notice referred to in section 6, the following provisions have effect:(a) the assets of the former club vest in the incorporated club by virtue of this section and without the need for any conveyance, transfer, assignment or assurance,(b) the rights and liabilities of the former club become by virtue of this section the rights and liabilities of the incorporated club,(c) all proceedings by or on behalf of, or against, the former club pending immediately before that date are taken to be proceedings pending by or on behalf of, or against, the incorporated club,(d) any act, matter or thing done or omitted to be done in relation to the former club before that date by, to or in respect of that club is (to the extent that the act, matter or thing continues to have effect) taken to have been done or omitted to be done by, to or in respect of the incorporated club,(e) a reference in any other Act, in any instrument made under another Act, or in any document of any kind, to the former club is, subject to any regulations in force under section 10, to be read as, or as including, a reference to the incorporated club.(2) The operation of this section is not to be regarded:(a) as a breach of contract or confidence or otherwise as a civil wrong, or(b) as a breach of any contractual provision prohibiting, restricting or regulating the assignment or transfer of assets, rights or liabilities, or(c) as giving rise to any remedy by a party to an instrument, or as causing or permitting the termination of any instrument, because of a change in the beneficial or legal ownership of any asset, right or liability, or(d) as an event of default under any contract or other instrument.(3) No attornment to the incorporated club by a lessee or sublessee from the former club is required.(4) No compensation is payable to any person in connection with a transfer under this section.(5) In this section, a reference to the assets of the former club includes a reference to any lease of the Hawkesbury Racecourse that was in existence immediately before the date referred to in subsection (1).(6) In this section, a reference to the assets, rights or liabilities of the former club includes a reference to the assets, rights or liabilities (respectively) of the chairman of the former club that the chairman held in trust for that club (in the case of assets or rights), or was subject to on behalf of that club (in the case of liabilities).
8 Stamp duty
Stamp duty is not chargeable in respect of:(a) the transfer of assets, rights or liabilities under section 7, or(b) anything certified by the Minister as having been done in consequence of such a transfer (for example, the transfer or registration of an interest in land).
9 Repeals
(1) The Hawkesbury Racecourse Act of 1890 (together with any by-laws in force under that Act) is repealed on a date to be appointed by proclamation published on the NSW legislation website.(2) The date is not to be a date that is earlier than the date of publication of the notice referred to in section 6.s 9: Am 2009 No 56, Sch 4.26.
10 Regulations
(1) The Governor may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that by this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.(2) The regulations may contain provisions of a savings or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of this Act.(3) Such a provision may, if the regulations so provide, take effect as from the date of assent to this Act or a later date.(4) To the extent to which such a provision takes effect on a date that is earlier than the date of its publication in the Gazette, the provision does not operate so as:(a) to affect, in a manner prejudicial to any person (other than the State or an authority of the State), the rights of that person existing before the date of its publication, or(b) to impose liabilities on any person (other than the State or an authority of the State) in respect of anything done or omitted to be done before the date of its publication.
11 Review of Act
(1) The Minister is to review this Act to determine whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives.(2) The review is to be undertaken as soon as possible after the period of 5 years from the date of assent to this Act.(3) A report of the outcome of the review is to be tabled in each House of Parliament within 12 months after the end of the period of 5 years.
Schedule 1 Hawkesbury Racecourse: description of land
(Section 3)
The land that constitutes the Hawkesbury Racecourse is as follows:All that parcel of land at Clarendon in the City of Hawkesbury, Parishes of St Matthew and Ham Common, County of Cumberland, of about 80.94 hectares contained in Certificate of Title Folio 1/72436 at the Land Titles Office, Sydney.