Woodside Petroleum said on Wednesday that there would be no delay on its $30-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia (WA) despite an adverse court decision.

On Tuesday, WA Supreme Court Chief Justice Wayne Martin declared invalid three notices of land acquisition for not containing clear descriptions of the land required under the Land Administration Act.

WA began in September 2010 the compulsory acquisition of land at James Price Point, located north of Broome, to build an LNG processing facility, accommodation and light industrial estate. The move was initiated by WA Premier Colin Barnett who has threatened since 2008 to seize the land due to legal dispute between Woodside and native title claimant groups.

A spokeswoman for Woodside said the court decision is a matter for the WA state to settle and would likely not disrupt the project timetable.

However, Michael Orlov, the lawyer for the Goolarabooloo group which has laid a claim on the land, said Woodside has to postpone its investment decision to 2012. He explained that it would take WA Lands Minister Brendon Grylls about one year to submit fresh notices of intent to take land in the area.

He added that proceedings to declare a songline area at the site under the Aboriginal Heritage Act could start as early as next week and the proceedings could delay the Browse development. Mr Orlov stressed that any ground-disturbing work needs approval by the minister under the Heritage Act.

The premier said WA would just reissue the notice to be more specific about the exact 3,500 hectares that Woodside needs for the LNG venture.

"When the original notice of intent to acquire the land was issued, an area of some 7,000 hectares was delineated. That was to allow some flexibility for where the final 3,500 hectares was to be," Mr Barnett told Sky News.

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