Giniotis v The Council of the City of Blacktown

In *Giniotis v The Council of the City of Blacktown* [1990] NSWCA 67, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered a dispute between the appellant, Mr. Giniotis, and the respondent, the Council of the City of Blacktown. The case concerned the Council's refusal to grant development consent for a proposed residential development.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Council had acted unlawfully in refusing the development application. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the Council's decision was affected by an error of law, particularly in relation to the proper consideration of relevant planning controls and the exercise of its discretionary powers under the relevant environmental planning legislation.

The Court of Appeal found that the Council had failed to properly consider the relevant provisions of the Blacktown Local Environmental Plan and had, in effect, fettered its discretion by adopting an inflexible policy that prevented the development from being approved. The Court held that the Council was required to consider each development application on its merits, having regard to the planning controls in force, and could not simply refuse consent based on a predetermined policy that did not allow for any exceptions or individual assessment. The Court applied the principle that a public authority exercising a statutory discretion must not fetter that discretion by adopting rigid policies that prevent it from considering the specific circumstances of each case.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the orders of the primary judge, and remitted the matter to the Council with a direction to reconsider the development application according to law.