Land Acquisition Act (consolidated to 10-5-02) (7) An application for a permit to subdivide any land pursuant to this section shall be made by or on behalf of the owner of the land to the local planning authority in terms of section 40 of the Regional Town and Country Planning Act [Chapter 29:12] no later than 14 days after the acceptance by the acquiring authority of an offer made by the owner in terms of subsection (2) or (3), and such application shall be deemed to have been granted by the local planning authority unless— (a) within 14 days of the lodgement of the application the local planning authority notifies the Minister responsible for town and country planning (“the responsible Minister”) that there is or may be a substantial objection to the proposed subdivision; and (b) the responsible Minister, upon receiving a notice in terms of paragraph (a) and after consulting the acquiring authority, allows the local planning authority a longer specified period within which to determine the application. (8) No offer in terms of subsection (2) or (3) which is accepted by an acquiring authority shall bind the acquiring authority if an application referred to in subsection (7) is refused. [Section inserted by s. 4 of Act 15/2000.] 7 Application for authorising or confirming order where acquisition contested (1) Where an objection to a proposed acquisition has been lodged in terms of subparagraph A of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 5, the acquiring authority shall— (a) before any acquisition takes place; or (b) not later than 30 days after the coming into force of an order made in terms of section 8; apply to the Administrative Court for an order authorising or confirming the acquisition, as the case may be. (2) An application in terms of subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a statement setting out the purpose of the acquisition. (3) The acquiring authority shall give notice of an application in terms of subsection (1) to the owner of the land concerned and to every other person on whom the relevant preliminary notice has been served as soon as is reasonably practicable after the application has been lodged with the Administrative Court. [Subsection substituted by s. 5 of Act 15/2000.] (4) The Administrative Court shall not grant an order referred to in subsection (1) unless it is satisfied— (a) that the acquisition of the land is reasonably necessary in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning or the utilisation of that or any other property for a purpose beneficial to the public generally or to any section of the public; or (b) where the acquisition relates to rural land, that the acquisition is reasonably necessary for the utilisation of that or any other land— (i) for settlement for agricultural or other purposes; or (ii) for purposes of land reorganisation, forestry, environmental conservation or the utilisation of wild life or other natural resources; or (iii) for the relocation of persons dispossessed in consequence of the utilisation of land for a purpose referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii); (c) where the acquisition relates to only part of a piece of land, that the acquisition will not render the remainder of that piece of land unsuitable for the purpose for which it was being used or was bona fide intended to be used immediately before the acquisition. (5) Where the Administrative Court refuses to grant an order referred to in subsection (1), the Administrative Court shall— (a) order the acquiring authority to withdraw the preliminary notice and any notice served in terms of subsection (3) of section 5; and (b) if the acquiring authority has already acted in terms of section 8 or nine, order the acquiring authority to return the land acquired. (6) The failure for any reason whatsoever to determine an application in terms of this section or the refusal by the Administrative Court to grant an order in terms of this section authorising or confirming the acquisition of any land, whether before, on or after the date of commencement of the Land Acquisition Amendment Act, 2000, or the Land Acquisition Amendment Act, 2001, shall— (a) not affect the validity of a preliminary notice issued in respect of that land if the notice is still in force in terms of subsection (4) of section 5, nor prevent the acquiring authority from making a fresh application in respect of that land in terms of section 7; (b) where the preliminary notice has lapsed, not prevent the acquiring authority from issuing a fresh preliminary notice in terms of section 5 and subsequently acquiring that land in terms of this Act: Provided that the acquiring authority shall not be entitled to acquire the same land on the same grounds as those on which the Administrative Court had refused the original application. [Subsection substituted by s. 4 of Act 14/2001.] 8 Vesting of land, taking of materials and exercise of rights over land (1) Subject to section 7, the acquiring authority may, not less than 30 days after the date of publication of the preliminary notice in the Gazette, acquire, by order describing the nature and extent of the land affected and served on the owner of the land concerned, all or any of the land described in that notice: Provided that— (i) the acquiring authority may, with the consent of the owner of the land to be acquired and the holder of any other registered real right therein whose whereabouts are ascertainable after diligent inquiry at the Deeds Registry and, if necessary, in the appropriate companies register, acquire land not specified in the preliminary notice, and, where the land is not agricultural land required for -6-