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Interim Heritage Orders

Helm No 18 Pty Ltd v North Sydney Council [2022] NSWLEC 1406

Overview & Facts

The case of Helm No 18 Pty Ltd v North Sydney Council [2022] NSWLEC 1406 provides relevant considerations a Council may need to consider before issuing an interim heritage order (“IHO”).

The case was in relation to an IHO issued by the Minster in accordance with the Heritage Act 1977 (NSW) (“The Act”). The IHO was issued to the owners of 131 and 133 Holt Avenue, Cremorne (“the Properties”). According to section 26 of the Act, Council does not have to provide notice in its intention to place an IHO. A Council, however, must provide notice once the IHO has been taken into effect; in this instance, being when the Properties and their heritage status was published in the Government Gazette in compliance with section 28(1)(c) of the Act. [...]  READ MORE →

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Malass v Strathfield Municipal Council [2022] NSWLEC 1160

Summary

The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales has delivered a recent judgment considering the interpretation of the definition of ‘gross floor area’ (GFA) as set out in the Standard Instrument – Principal Local Environmental Plan.

GFA calculations are one of the more complex aspects of the NSW planning system, however, with the growing body of case law, it is becoming increasingly clear as to what will be included or excluded from this calculation. The recent decision of Dixon SC in Malass v Strathfield Municipal Council [2022] NSWLEC 1160 (Malass) has contributed to this body of case law, with the judgment clarifying the scope of item (g) in the definition of what is excluded from GFA calculation, being the space allocated to car parking and access to same. [...]  READ MORE →

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Overlapping responsibilities in Condition of consents for music festivals

The entertainment and live music industry has undoubtedly taken the biggest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. To grapple with the economic fallout, the Federal Government announced a $250 million targeted package to help restart the creative, entertainment, arts and screen sectors.

As event organisers slowly formulate management plans, local councils will undoubtedly play a significant role to consult with other agencies to ensure a COVID-safe environment. The following case of NSW Commissioner of Police v Rabbits Eat Lettuce Pty Ltd [2019] NSWCA 182 is relevant as it demonstrates the complexities of having a condition of consent that involves multiple local agencies. [...]  READ MORE →

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Case Note: Port Macquarie-Hastings Council v Mansfield

In the recent decision of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council v Mansfield [2019] NSWCCA 7 (Mansfield), the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal overturned an earlier decision of the Land and Environment Court in relation to the power of councils to compel production of documents under the former section 119J (now section 9.22) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (the EPA Act).

Background

Mr Mansfield was accused of carrying out a development that was prohibited under the Local Environmental Plan. After some investigations and before the commencement of the criminal proceedings, Council’s investigation officer, Craig Henderson, issued a number of notices under section 119J (now section 9.22) of the EPA Act. From the documents produced under those notices, Council learned two companies may have further documents relating to the alleged offence and issued a subpoena to each of the two companies after criminal prosecution had commenced. [...]  READ MORE →

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New Land and Environment Court Class 3 Compensation Claims Practice Note

On 15 March 2019, the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales issued a new Practice Note for Class 3 Compensation Claim proceedings relating to the acquisition of land. The purpose of this new practice note was to implement a significant change to the way in which compensation proceedings are managed. More specifically, the new practice note is better aimed at facilitating just, quick and cheap resolutions of what can often be very complex compensation cases.

Change 1 – Earlier Conciliation conferencing [...]  READ MORE →

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Court Invalidates Minister’s Decision

On 30 July 2016, the Minister for Heritage (Minister) made a decision not to direct that the Sirius Apartment Building (Sirius) at Millers Point, Sydney be listed on the State Heritage Register. This decision was made despite a recommendation from the Heritage Council of New South Wales (Heritage Council) that Sirius be listed on the Register.

Sirius was built in the 1980s and since then has become a well-known and significant building in Sydney. It has been used predominantly as social housing up until the NSW Government announced in March 2014 that it intends to sell Sirius and then re-invest the proceeds of sale into social housing across the state. [...]  READ MORE →

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Enforcing Environmental Laws in the Land and Environment Court

The Land and Environment Court operates in a specialist jurisdiction dealing with cases that relate to mining, planning, the environment, local government and development. The Land and Environment Court was established by legislation and can only deal with matters that fall within its jurisdiction.

Civil Enforcement

Most environmental proceedings within NSW can be enforced through civil proceedings in the courts, particularly the Land and Environment Court where there is an alleged breach of an environmental law.

Civil action in the courts can be used to obtain court orders to prevent environmental harm from occurring which is beneficial as often in criminal proceedings, legal action is reactive and taken after harm has already been caused. For example an injunction can be sought in the Land and Environment Court to prevent an incident that would cause environmental harm. [...]  READ MORE →

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Can Council charge for services based on availability of services and actual use of services?

Background

On the 27 February 2017, the NSW Land and Environment Court dismissed an appeal of the applicant seeking to invalidate the Rates and Charges notices issued by a respondent council – Prefabricated Buildings Pty Ltd v Bathurst Regional Council [2017] NSWLEC 44.

Facts

The matter concerned water availability charges and sewerage access charges (Availability Charges) being levied by Bathurst Regional Council (the Council) against the Premises which were owned by the applicant. Council had levied the Availability Charges against the Premises since 2004 under the authority of s 501 of the Act, and such charges had been paid by the applicant. Council also issued separate water usage charges and sewer usage charges (the Notices) under s 502 of the Act every three months in arrears, The applicant specifically challenged the validity of the Notices under s 574(1) of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) (the Act) on the basis that Council was only able to charge for water services and sewerage service according to the actual use of the service and had no power to make the Availability Charges, which were imposed independently of actual use. [...]  READ MORE →