The recent NSW Court of Appeal case of AQC Dartbrook Management Pty Ltd v Minister for Planning and Public Spaces [2021] NSWCA 112 raises concerns as to the power to modify an existing development consent. The bench included Meagher, Leeming JJA and Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court Preston CJ.
The case involved an application to modify an underground coal mine in the Hunter Valley. The Court found that the Land and Environment Court judge has erred in joining the objectors and ordered that the joining of the objectors be set aside. [...]
