Council of the City of Sydney v Garbett Pty Ltd

The Council of the City of Sydney (the Council) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning a dispute with Garbett Pty Ltd and another party. The core of the dispute involved the Council's refusal to grant a development consent for a proposed shopping centre.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the Council had acted unlawfully in refusing the development consent. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the Council's decision was based on considerations that were extraneous to the matters it was legally entitled to take into account under the relevant planning legislation, and whether the Council had failed to give proper consideration to relevant matters.

The Court of Appeal found that the Council had indeed taken into account irrelevant considerations when refusing the development consent, thereby rendering its decision invalid. The court reasoned that the Council's refusal was based on a desire to protect existing businesses in the area, a consideration that was not a permissible ground for refusal under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW). The court applied the principle that a public authority must exercise its statutory powers for the purposes for which they were conferred and must not take into account irrelevant considerations or fail to take into account relevant considerations.

The Court of Appeal upheld the appeal, quashed the Council's refusal of the development consent, and remitted the matter back to the Council for determination according to law.