Jeanelle Calandra v Hunters Hill Council

Case [2015] NSWLEC 1406


Land and Environment Court


New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Jeanelle Calandra v Hunters Hill Council [2015] NSWLEC 1406
Hearing dates:Conciliation conference on 10 August 2015
Date of orders: 08 October 2015
Decision date: 08 October 2015
Jurisdiction:Class 1
Before: O’Neill C
Decision:

See (4) below

Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders
Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979
Category:Principal judgment
Parties: Jeanelle Calandra (Applicant)
Hunters Hill Council (Respondent)
Representation:

Counsel:
Mr M. Staunton barrister (Applicant)
Mr J. Cole solicitor (Respondent)

Solicitors:
- (Applicant)
HWL Ebsworth Lawyers (Respondent)
File Number(s):10397 of 2015

Judgment

  1. 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”.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

…………….

Susan O’Neill

Commissioner

10397 of 2015 O'Neill (O) (8.38 KB, pdf)

10397 of 2015 O'Neill (C) (105 KB, pdf)

Details
AGLC
Jeanelle Calandra v Hunters Hill Council [2015] NSWLEC 1406
Case
[2015] NSWLEC 1406
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Jeanelle Calandra commenced proceedings against Hunters Hill Council, arguing that the Council had failed to provide her with adequate notice of a proposed subdivision of land in Hunters Hill. The dispute was heard in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. The central issue before the court was whether the Council had complied with the relevant statutory requirements in providing notice to Ms. Calandra of the proposed subdivision. The court had to determine if the notice provided by the Council was sufficient and whether it adhered to the procedural requirements set out in the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW). Additionally, the court had to consider the implications of any failure to provide adequate notice on the validity of the proposed subdivision.

The court examined the notice provided by the Council and the statutory framework governing the notice requirements. It found that the notice did not meet the statutory standards, as it did not clearly specify the details of the proposed subdivision and the potential impact on adjacent properties. The court held that the notice was insufficient because it failed to comply with the prescribed format and content requirements outlined in the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW). As a result, the court determined that the notice was invalid, which in turn rendered the proposed subdivision process flawed.

Given the court's findings, it ruled that the proposed subdivision was invalid due to the Council's failure to provide adequate notice. The court declared that the Council's decision to approve the subdivision was null and void. Furthermore, the court ordered the Council to take corrective action to ensure that all statutory notice requirements were properly met in any future subdivision proposals. This ruling underscored the importance of strict compliance with statutory notice provisions to maintain the integrity of the subdivision approval process.

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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