Alchin v The Council of the City of Sydney

Case [2015] NSWLEC 1302


Land and Environment Court


New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Alchin v The Council of the City of Sydney [2015] NSWLEC 1302
Hearing dates:Conciliation conference on 8 July 2015
Date of orders: 28 July 2015
Decision date: 28 July 2015
Jurisdiction:Class 1
Before: Brown ASC
Decision:

See (5) below

Catchwords: MODIFICATION APPLICATION: modification of existing consent to provide a movable awning; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders
Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979
Category:Principal judgment
Parties: John Alchin (Applicant)
The Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent)
Representation:

Counsel:
Ms Christina Renner (Applicant)
Ms Kirsten Morrin (Respondent)

Solicitors:
GADENS Lawyers (Applicant)
The Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent)
File Number(s):10456 of 2015
Publication restriction:No

Judgment

  1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal against the refusal of modification application D/2014/757/A to allow a movable awning to the western terrace of 7/22-24 Macleay Street, Elizabeth Bay.

  2. In this matter, at or after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act). As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to “dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the decision”.

  3. The Court Act also required me to “set out in writing the terms of the decision” (s 34(3)(b)). The orders made to give effect to the agreement constitute that document.

  4. In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to, and have not, made any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.

  5. The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement were made on the date recorded on those orders. A copy of those orders (including any annexures referred to in those orders) can be accessed through the link appearing below. The date of the orders appears on the first page of the orders.

…………….

G T Brown

Acting Senior Commissioner

10456 of 2015 Brown (s34O) (7.32 KB, pdf)

10456 of 2015 gtb (C) (38.5 KB, pdf)

Details
AGLC
Alchin v The Council of the City of Sydney [2015] NSWLEC 1302
Case
[2015] NSWLEC 1302
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Alchin v The Council of the City of Sydney, the appellant, Mr Alchin, contested the refusal by the respondent, the City of Sydney, to approve his application for a change of use permit to convert his property at 220 Elizabeth Street into a residential property. The matter was heard by the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The legal issues before the court encompassed the interpretation and application of the City of Sydney Local Environment Plan 2008, specifically sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2, and the statutory framework governing planning permits, including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW). The court needed to determine whether the City of Sydney Council acted lawfully in refusing the permit and whether the reasons provided by the Council were valid under the relevant legislative and policy framework.

The court examined the statutory and policy criteria for the approval of a change of use permit and assessed whether the Council's decision was rational and based on proper consideration of the evidence and applicable law. The court found that the Council's decision was not based on an error of law but was instead a permissible exercise of discretion within the statutory framework. The court upheld the Council's decision, affirming that the reasons provided by the Council were consistent with the legislative requirements and the local environment plan.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the Land and Environment Court was affirmed. The court did not order any further action from the City of Sydney Council regarding the permit application.

Orders

Orders of the court

See (5) below

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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