Blue Mountains City Council v Laurence Browning Pty Ltd

The Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an appeal by Blue Mountains City Council against a decision of the Land and Environment Court concerning the interpretation of a local environmental plan. The dispute centred on whether a specific clause within the Blue Mountains Local Environmental Plan 1991 constituted a "development standard" for the purposes of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW). Laurence Browning Pty Ltd was the respondent in the appeal.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether clause 29.2 of the Blue Mountains Local Environmental Plan 1991 was a development standard as defined by section 4(1) of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979*. This determination was crucial because if it was a development standard, it would be amenable to the application of State Environmental Planning Policy No. 1 – Development Standards, which provides a mechanism for seeking variations to such standards.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the definition of "development standard" in section 4(1) of the Act requires a standard to be a provision that prescribes a standard of _. The court concluded that clause 29.2, which imposed a consolidation requirement, did not prescribe a standard of _. Therefore, it did not fall within the definition of a development standard. The court allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment of the Land and Environment Court, and answered the separate question in the negative. The respondent was ordered to pay the Council's costs.