As rural landowners, farmers should know the rules surrounding access to their land for infrastructure projects. This includes roadworks, energy, telecom, and media infrastructure, in addition to granting access to a landlocked property.
One of the first steps for a project proponent, while they determine route or site options, is acquiring the necessary land interests for the project. Land agents working for a project proponent negotiate land purchase, easement, or lease agreements. Project proponents should have a published document describing land acquisition principles which must be adhered to by land agents working for the proponent.
It is the choice of the landowner to have a lawyer or anyone else review documents. While there is no regulation that entitles the landowner to have these costs covered, regulators encourage parties to negotiate for reasonable costs to have a lawyer help them in the process to review documents and to finalize agreements.