Corp City of Adelaide v City of Salisbury & Anor No. Scgrg-97-6 Judgment No. S6914

The plaintiff, a corporation which owns and operates a waste depot in Adelaide, sought a declaration that a condition attached to a planning consent granted by the defendant, the City of Salisbury, was invalid and of no effect. The condition in question related to the final level of the landfill to which the plaintiff was to be limited. The plaintiff also sought to have quashed the defendant's resolution, passed in June 1996, which purported to rely on the condition in question to set a height limit on the landfill. The plaintiff claimed that the condition was invalid, that the defendant was not the appropriate planning authority to determine the height of the landfill, and that the decision was made in breach of the rules of natural justice. The plaintiff also argued that the condition survived transitional provisions contained in subsequent planning legislation. The defendant argued that the condition was valid and enforceable, that it was the appropriate planning authority to determine the height of the landfill, and that the decision was made in accordance with natural justice. The defendant also argued that the condition was not preserved by the transitional provisions contained in subsequent planning legislation. The Court found that the condition was invalid because it lacked finality and certainty. The condition was severable from the consent and the consent remained valid without it. The defendant was not the appropriate planning authority to determine the height of the landfill and the decision was made in breach of the rules of natural justice. The condition survived the transitional provisions contained in subsequent planning legislation. The Court made the declarations sought by the plaintiff and quashed the defendant's resolution. The Court emphasised that the plaintiff's operation of the waste depot would now be subject to the terms of any licence granted by the Environment Protection Authority.