THE STATE Government has assured eight Ballarat property owners that their land cannot be taken from them because of an ownership dispute stretching back to the Eureka Rebellion.
Frankston resident Andrew Crowley issued "eviction" notices on the properties in Eureka, George and Ford streets and Otway St South in late August.
Mr Crowley claimed he had been cheated out of the prime Ballarat real estate following the illegal seizure of the old Bentley's Hotel by the State Government in the 1850s.
Land Registry Office director Barbara Flett wrote to the property owners this week telling them that Mr Crowley's claims had no legal basis.
She said his claims had been previously investigated on two occasions in the early 1990s.
She recently directed her officers to thoroughly research his claims again, including an extensive review of the original Crown grant records.
She said his claim had no grounds because Ms Bentley was a settler - or squatter - on the land and failed to convert her trespass to a right of pre-emption and a Crown grant.
She also said the Crown made a grant for the land in 1859 to another person which means that, under Victorian land law, any interests that may have existed in the land prior to the 1859 grant are considered
extinguished.
"As a consequence Ms Bentley lost any interest that she might have held in the land," Ms Flett said.
"I can reassure you that the interests in your land being claimed by Mr Andrew Crowley, a descendant of Catherine Bentley, are considered to have no legal basis."
Property owner Kim Ryan, who sought media coverage of the issue in August, said the government's formal letter of assurance was a great relief.
She said Ballarat MHR Catherine King and Ballarat MLC Dianne Hadden had understood her concerns over possibly losing her home.
Ms Hadden contacted the Land Registry Office while Catherine King wrote a letter to Minister for Planning Rob Hulls about the issue.
"Catherine King's Office was fantastic from day one - I realise that this was not a Federal Government issue but they took it on board," she said.
"I'm just ecstatic - I'm going to frame the letter."
However, Mr Crowley said the property owners were not protected by the government's letter.
He said he had sent Ms Bentley's original deed to the Land Registry Office this week and was waiting to hear back on the matter.
"The Land Registry Office's information is illegal and wrong," he said.
Despite the Supreme Court twice ruling that it had no jurisdiction to hear his case, Mr Crowley said he was going to launch another court case into the issue.
"When I get hold of the government's letter I will contact my solicitors because the sale in 1859 was illegal - Ms Bentley was defrauded," he said.
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