All example documents are to be used as a starting point, not templates. Authors must check all details are accurate for their situation.
[our ref LGA-2026-03-09-1]Good. Incorporating the But For / Calderbank clause from [SOC-2026-03-28-17] as a discrete numbered part, preserving everything in the original letter and adding the costs and attribution mechanism cleanly.
[Author’s address] [Suburb XXXX] [Date]
The Chief Executive Officer Shire of [Revenue] [Address]
Re: Your correspondence dated [date] – Purported complaint and request to inspect land at [address/Lot description]
Audi alteram partem – hear the other side.
Dear Sir or Madam,
1. Receipt of your correspondence
Your correspondence dated [date] has been received and noted. In it you assert that a complaint has been brought to the Shire, and on that basis you purport to require or request access to inspect land at [address/Lot and Deposited Plan number], Certificate of Title Volume [X] Folio [XX].
Before the author can consider, respond to, or grant any such request, the particulars set out below are required. This is not a refusal. It is a request for the information necessary to assess the Shire’s claimed basis for action.
2. Particulars required before any response is given
The author requires the following particulars in writing within 14 days of the date of this letter.
2.1 Particulars of the complaint
(a) The full text of the complaint, or a copy of the complaint document, including the date on which it was made and the form in which it was received by the Shire.
(b) The name, address, and relationship to the land of the person or persons who made the complaint. If the Shire asserts that the complainant’s identity is confidential, identify the specific legislative provision authorising that confidentiality and the section and subsection by which it operates.
(c) The precise nature of the complaint – that is, what act, omission, condition, or circumstance is alleged to have occurred, and on what date or during what period it is said to have occurred.
(d) Whether the complaint was made in writing or orally, and if orally, by whom it was received and whether it was recorded.
(e) Whether the complaint has been assessed by the Shire as valid, and if so by whom, under what authority, and by what process.
2.2 Particulars of the alleged harm or breach
(a) The specific legislative provision, by Act, section and subsection, under which the Shire asserts it has power to act upon the complaint and to inspect the land.
(b) What harm, breach, nuisance, or non-compliance is specifically alleged, and what evidence the Shire holds in support of that allegation.
(c) Whether any damage has been alleged, and if so the nature, extent and quantification of that damage and to whom it is said to have occurred.
(d) Whether the matter is characterised as a civil, administrative, or criminal matter, and on what basis that characterisation is made.
2.3 Particulars of authority to inspect
(a) The specific legislative provision, by Act, section and subsection, under which any officer of the Shire claims authority to enter and inspect private freehold land.
(b) The identity, full name, and position of the officer or officers who would conduct the inspection.
(c) The instrument of authorisation or delegation under which that officer holds the power to inspect – that is, the Council resolution, instrument of delegation, or other authority document, identified by date and reference number.
(d) Whether a warrant is required before entry to freehold land may be effected, and if the Shire asserts no warrant is required, the specific provision by which that position is established.
2.4 Particulars of standing
(a) Confirmation that the Shire of [Revenue] is the correct legal person asserting this claim – that is, that the claim is made by the Shire as a body corporate under the Local Government Act 1995 (WA), acting by its council, and not by an officer acting in a personal capacity.
(b) Whether the complaint has been placed before the council by resolution, or whether this action is being taken by the CEO or another officer under delegation – and if under delegation, the instrument of that delegation by date and resolution number.
3. The author’s position pending receipt of particulars
Until the particulars requested above are provided in full, the author does not accept that any obligation to permit inspection has arisen. The author notes that under the Liberty of Subject Act 1354 (28 Edw III c 3) and the Observance of Due Process of Law Act 1368 (42 Edw III c 3), both unrepealed and cited by the Parliament of Australia in APH Infosheet 23, no person shall be put to answer, and no consequence shall be imposed, without due process of law. No process that cannot identify its lawful foundation satisfies that threshold.
The author further notes that the land the subject of this request is freehold land held under Crown Grant. Any right of entry claimed over freehold Crown Grant land by a non-Crown statutory body must rest on demonstrated and specific lawful authority. A complaint of unspecified origin and unknown content does not, without more, constitute that authority.
4. What the author requires in response
A written response providing the particulars set out in Part 2 above, within 14 days of the date of this letter.
If the Shire is unable to provide any of the particulars requested, the author requires a written statement identifying which particulars cannot be provided and the reason why.
If the Shire does not respond within 14 days, the author will note that silence for the record and will treat the absence of response as confirmation that the particulars requested do not exist or cannot be established – which confirmation is itself directly responsive to the purpose of this request.
5. Calderbank offer, but for attribution, and costs
This letter constitutes a Calderbank offer. The author has provided the Shire with a reasonable and documented opportunity to resolve this matter by supplying particulars that any lawfully constituted process ought to be able to supply without difficulty. The author does not seek any outcome beyond the Shire establishing its lawful basis before any inspection proceeds. That is a modest and proportionate request.
But for the failure of the Shire of [Revenue] to respond substantively, make full disclosure, and provide the information requested in connection with this matter, no further action, cost, loss, or escalation of any kind would have been necessary or incurred by any party. All costs, losses, damages, and expenses incurred by any party, including the Shire of [Revenue] itself, from and after the date of that failure are caused by and attributed entirely to the Shire’s own conduct. The Shire therefore has no standing to seek, claim, or recover costs of any kind against the author in connection with any escalation of this matter, as any such costs are the direct and foreseeable consequence of the Shire’s own failure. Any costs order sought by the Shire against the author shall be met with this attribution, and the author reserves the right to set off any such claim against the full costs, losses, and damages recoverable from the Shire from the date of first failure, being [date of the Shire’s original correspondence].
Should the Shire fail to accept the opportunity presented by this letter and subsequently do no better than the author’s position in any proceeding, the Shire shall bear the author’s costs of those proceedings on an indemnity basis from the date of this communication, in addition to bearing its own costs in their entirety. The author will rely on this letter in any subsequent proceeding on the question of costs.
6. Reservation of all rights
All rights of the author are expressly reserved, including without limitation the right to decline entry, to seek judicial review of any decision to compel access, and to place this correspondence before any relevant authority. Nothing in this letter constitutes consent to inspection, agreement with any assertion made in the Shire’s correspondence, or waiver of any right at law, in equity, or under the Crown Grant incidents attaching to the land described above.
By: ________________________ John Henry, of the family Doe
All Rights Reserved
Notes before sending:
The “date of first failure” in Part 5 should be the date of the Shire’s original correspondence – the letter that made the assertion without supplying particulars is the triggering event. Send by registered post and retain proof of delivery. Keep a certified copy. The Calderbank mechanism requires this letter to be kept confidential from the court until after judgment on the substantive matter – produce it only on the question of costs. If no response is received within 14 days, a follow-up notice placing the silence on the record should be prepared using JX2 Mode 4 framing.
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[our ref LGA-2026-03-09-1]Concise, standalone, suitable for insertion into any correspondence or as a separate notice posted at the property boundary.
NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF IMPLIED RIGHT OF ACCESS
To all persons, officers, agents, and representatives of the Shire of [Revenue] and any other body, authority, or person acting on its behalf or purporting to do so:
Take notice that any implied licence or right of access previously existing in favour of any person to enter, traverse, or remain upon the land described as Lot [X] on Deposited Plan [X], Certificate of Title Volume [X] Folio [XX], located at [address] (the Land), is hereby expressly and irrevocably revoked with immediate effect from the date of this notice.
No person, officer, agent, contractor, or representative of any body corporate, statutory authority, or government instrumentality has leave or licence to enter the Land for any purpose without the prior express written consent of the author.
Any entry upon the Land without such consent constitutes a trespass at common law. The author will seek damages for trespass, including aggravated damages where entry is made under colour of authority that cannot be demonstrated to exist, and the author expressly reserves the right to seek injunctive relief to restrain any threatened or continuing trespass.
This notice applies regardless of any purported statutory authority claimed by any person to enter. Where statutory authority to enter is asserted, the author requires that authority to be demonstrated in writing, by Act, section, subsection, and instrument of delegation, before any entry is permitted. Assertion of authority is not demonstration of authority.
Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos – to whomsoever the soil belongs, it belongs to them up to the heavens and down to the depths.
By: ________________________ John Henry, of the family Doe
All Rights Reserved
Date: ______________________
Notes:
This notice should be served on the Shire by registered post on the same date as the particulars request letter, so both operate together – the particulars letter asks for the basis before consent is given, and this notice makes explicit that no implied licence exists in the interim. A laminated copy posted at the property entrance gate or boundary in a visible position creates a further evidentiary record that any person entering did so with actual notice of the revocation. Retain the registered post receipt and a photograph of the posted notice.
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