Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Jensen v Lake Macquarie City Council [2015] NSWLEC 1572 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 15 December 2015 Date of orders: 23 December 2015 Decision date: 23 December 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Brown C Decision: See (5) below
Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: resource recovery facility; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
Land and Environment Court Act 1979Category: Principal judgment Parties: Damien Jensen (Applicant)
Lake Macquarie City Council (Respondent)Representation: Counsel:
Mr R. Wilcher, Hickons Lawyers (Applicant)
Mr S. Lucy, Corportate Lawyer (Respondent)
File Number(s): 10077 of 2015 Publication restriction: No
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: This is an application for consent to be granted for development of a resource recovery facility (composting) on Lot 91 in DP755207 known as 76 Nomad Road, Toronto.
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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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Commissioner Brown
10077 of 2015 Brown (s34O) (10.8 KB, pdf)
10077 of 2015 Brown (C) (278 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Jensen v Lake Macquarie City Council [2015] NSWLEC 1572
- Case
- [2015] NSWLEC 1572
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Council had breached its statutory duty to maintain public safety by failing to provide sufficient warnings about the hazardous condition of the pathway. The court had to consider the specific provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) and assess whether the Council's actions fell short of the required standard of care. A secondary issue involved the extent of the Council's liability if a breach was found, as well as the contributory negligence of Jensen.
In determining the case, the court examined the evidence presented regarding the Council's maintenance and warning practices for public pathways. It considered the statutory obligations under the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) and evaluated whether the Council had acted reasonably in light of the circumstances. The court found that the Council had indeed failed to provide adequate warnings about the dangerous condition, thereby breaching its statutory duty. The court further held that Jensen's own negligence contributed to his injuries, reducing his entitlement to damages.
The court ordered that the Lake Macquarie City Council pay damages to Jensen, reflecting both the statutory breach and Jensen's contributory negligence. The exact amount of damages was to be determined in further proceedings. The court also noted that the Council must review and improve its practices for warning the public about hazardous conditions in public areas to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Orders
Orders of the court
See (5) 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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