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“As soon as government officials knock on your door, you simultaneously lost your home and been evicted from your area,” she said.

Victor Xiberras, speaking on behalf of his 76-year-old mother, said he couldn’t understand why the latest Sydney Metro offer was more than 70% higher than the original offer. “I thought the show The castle was a joke, but it played out right in front of me, ”Mr. Xiberras said.

Several residents asked why government-hired appraisers took the Cumberland Plain Conservation Bill into consideration in order to lower the value of their properties.

The survey learned that appraisers might use future considerations, such as biodiversity, to infer property values, but not consider the potential increase in land value of the area transformed into a potential commercial and residential area when of the market value calculation.

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Sydney Metro General Manager Peter Regan acknowledged the complexity of fairly compensating landowners uprooted by the large infrastructure project, saying that “with perfect foresight the process would be different, but we didn’t not perfect clairvoyance ”. He added that the disparity between initial and subsequent assessments could be due to the availability of additional land data.

“At no point did we try to lower the ball or underpay,” he said.

Several families from Orchard Hills said they had not received definitive answers from the Sydney Underground on why 65 acres needed to be acquired for the new tube station compared to considerably less land for other stations .

Mr Regan said all of the properties being acquired were being used in the construction phase of the project, but it was unclear what part of the land would ultimately be used to develop the surrounding station compound, saying “all or part of this site may or may not be available ”.

A spokesperson for the Sydney Metro said: “As part of the mandatory property acquisition process, independent appraisers of the Sydney Metro are required to assess market value, which includes taking into account any relevant information. on the market.

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