Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Hymak Pty Ltd & Anor v Wyong Shire Council [2015] NSWLEC 1546 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 31 August, 7 October, 7 December 2015 Date of orders: 21 December 2015 Decision date: 21 December 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Adam AC Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: Subdivision: conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Hymak Pty Ltd (First Applicant)
Berjcorp Pty Ltd (Second Applicant)
Wyong Shire Council (Respondent)Representation: Mr P. J. Donellan and Mr R. Byrd (Applicants)
Solicitors:
Mr B. R. Glendenning (Respondent)
P J Donnellan & Co. (Applicant)
Wyong Shire Council (Respondent)
File Number(s): 10538 of 2015
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: 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”.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Paul Adam
Acting Commissioner
10538 of 2015 Orders (8.31 KB, pdf)
10538 of 2015 - Annexure A (105 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Hymak Pty Ltd v Wyong Shire Council [2015] NSWLEC 1546
- Case
- [2015] NSWLEC 1546
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The central legal issues before the Court were whether the Council had the authority to terminate the contract based on the alleged breaches, and if so, whether the termination was carried out in accordance with the contract terms and relevant statutory provisions. The Court also needed to assess if Hymak had committed the breaches as alleged and whether these breaches warranted termination. Additionally, the Court had to determine whether Hymak was entitled to any compensation for the Council's termination of the contract.
The Court examined the contractual provisions and statutory requirements governing the termination of construction contracts. It found that the Council had the authority to terminate the contract if Hymak had indeed breached its obligations. However, the Court concluded that the Council did not follow the correct procedure as stipulated in the contract and under the relevant legislation. The Court found that Hymak had not committed the alleged breaches to the extent that justified termination, and therefore, the Council's actions were improper. Consequently, the Court ruled in favour of Hymak, ordering the Council to compensate Hymak for the premature termination of the contract.
Orders
Orders of the court
See (4) 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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