Valuer-General v AWF Prop Co 2 Pty Ltd [2021] VSCA 274
Property law; fixtures on land; when fixtures become part of land
Facts: Ararat Wind Farm (AWF) leased land on which to erect 75 wind turbines. Each turbine consisted of a steel tower, a nacelle which housed a turbine generator, and three rotor blades. The tower of each turbine was bolted to a concrete or rock foundation. After the wind turbines were erected, the local council issued AWF with a fire levy which AWF was contractually liable to pay. The levy was calculated according to the value of the leased land. The council included the value of the wind turbines as ‘capital improvements’ of the land. AWF argued that the turbines were not permanently affixed to the land and should not be included in the valuation of the land. The lease specifically provided that at the end of lease the turbines should be removed and the foundations and connecting roads would remain.
Issue: Were the wind turbines permanent fixtures on the land, and therefore part of the land?
Decision: Although bolted to a fixed underground foundation, the turbines were removeable and did not become part of the land.
Reason: The turbines were not attached to the land with the objective intention that they become part of it. Accordingly, they should be treated as chattels (moveable property). The court said [at 45]:
Each wind turbine is demountable from the foundation and can be removed individually. To remove the wind turbines, the bolts connecting the tower to the wind turbine foundations are unscrewed and the wind turbine is dismantled by reversing the process by which it was installed. It takes approximately two days to remove each wind turbine. This can be done without any substantial damage to either the wind turbine, the foundation, or the land. There is no material impediment to removal of the wind turbines from their foundations or from the land.