Electrical substations are treated as premises rather than fixtures due to the substantial and permanent nature of their construction. Electricity authorities need to establish a right to maintain and support an electrical substation within a parcel, using either:
- a lease of premises, together with rights of access, if any or
- an easement over the substation site together with rights of access or supply for electricity purposes.
This Guideline covers the use of a lease concerning electrical substations only.
The form of description used for the lease depends on the length of the term of the lease. For registration purposes, the term of a lease of electrical substations does not include any option of renewal.
There are two periods to consider:
- term of 25 years or less, and
- term of more than 25 years.
Term of 25 years or less
When the term of the lease is 25 years or less, the leased area may be defined as follows:
- if the substation is on a title boundary adjoining a public road and does not need an easement of access or supply, the leased area may be defined by either:
- a simple description in both the ‘Property Leased’ panel of the Lease dealing form and the body of the lease. This description should refer to the substation number and the address of the land on which it is erected. For example: '.. of premises being Electrical Substation No.1234 situated at 123 Strata Way, Strataville .. ' or
- a simple description in the ‘Property Leased’ panel of the Lease dealing form, the body of the lease and a plan defining the substation (see below 'Plans used to define electrical substations)'.
- if the substation is not on a title boundary, does not adjoin a road, and requires easements for access or supply, a plan is needed to define the site of the leased area and/or any easements. The description in the ‘Property Leased’ panel of the Lease dealing form, the body of the lease and the type of plan used will be the same as set out below.
Term of more than 25 years
Where the term of the lease is more than 25 years, then a plan is required to define the substation (see cl. 9 Real Property Regulations 2019 and Schedule 4 Lodgment Rules). The ‘Property Leased’ panel of the Lease dealing form and the body of the lease must comprise a description of the lease premises and refer to a plan which defines the substation. This description should refer to:
- the substation number and the address of the land on which it is erected and
- the way in which it is designated in the plan.
Examples
'... of premises being Electrical Substation No.1234 situated at 123 Strata Way, Strataville and shown in the plan annexed hereto and marked as Annexure A…., or
' ... of premises being Electrical Substation No.1234 situated at 123 Strata Way, Strataville and shown in DP....'
Plans used to define electrical substations
The plan can be one of the following:
- a plan annexed to a registered dealing
- a plan annexed to the subject lease or
- a plan lodged as a deposited plan.
and must comply with the requirements for one of the following:
- a plan of compilation annexed to the lease or
- a plan of either compilation or survey lodged as a deposited plan, where:
- the plan must comply with normal plan preparation and lodgment requirements
- the heading should state 'A plan of substation no. ........... for lease purposes'
- the lodgment purposes will be "Lease"
- the substation number is used as the unique identity to facilitate lodgment. The plan must not define any residue parcel as it is being treated as premises
- normal survey plan requirements must be adopted
- a plan which has already been lodged in NSW LRS and complies with one of the above standards.
NOTE: A plan of survey cannot be annexed to a lease without the prior approval of NSW LRS. Consideration of the request by NSW LRS will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
NOTE: A registered plan must not be annexed to a lease.
Publish date: October 2023