Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council

Land and Environment Court

of New South Wales

CITATION:

Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2008] NSWLEC 290

PARTIES:

APPLICANT
Ivan Jeray

RESPONDENT
Blue Mountains City Council

FILE NUMBER(S):

40986 of 2008

CORAM:

Sheahan J

KEY ISSUES:

Practice and Procedure :- Notice of Motion to seize Council files

LEGISLATION CITED:

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
Local Government Act 1993
State Records Act 1998
Land and Environment Court Rules 2007
Uniform Civil Prodedure Rules 2005

TEXTS CITED:

Ritchie's Uniform Civil Procedure NSW

DATES OF HEARING:

10 October 2008

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE:

10 October 2008

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES:

APPLICANT
In person

RESPONDENT
Mr A Seton,
Solicitor of Marsdens Law Group

JUDGMENT:

THE LAND AND
ENVIRONMENT COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Sheahan J

10 October 2008

40986 of 2008 Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council

EXTEMPORE JUDGMENT

1 His Honour: Mr Jeray has commenced Class 4 proceedings against the Council to have the Court declare invalid two (or perhaps three) decisions of the Council – (1) its decision to regulate his dealings with the Council by means of a “communications plan of management”, and (2) its decision(s) to grant consent to a particular development and then modify that consent (Council DA files X/1075/2006 and X/1075/2006/A).

2 In the Class 4 proceedings, Mr Jeray also seeks interlocutory relief requiring that all works permitted by the consent “stop until a decision of the Court is made”. At this stage only the Council has been named as a Respondent to the proceedings.

3 Mr Jeray contends that the communications management plan is “discriminatory and invalid”, and that the development consent was granted and modified in breach of various Acts and Regulations, the list of which he seeks the opportunity to review once he has access to a range of Council information.

4 He has brought a notice of motion at this very early stage in the proceedings asking the Court to make a range of orders the thrust of which would be to have the Sheriff “seize and keep secure at Katoomba Court house … across the road from the Council headquarters” a number of development application files, which he fears the Council will tamper with before the first return date of the proceedings, namely 31 October.

5 He first sought these orders last Tuesday on an ex parte basis and prior to his service of the Class 4 application. He has so far been denied access to these files, the precise relevance of which he has not yet demonstrated to the Court, because he will not conform to the challenged communications plan.

6 On Tuesday and today Mr Jeray has made many complaints from the bar table about the Council’s dealings with him over some years. He does not trust the Council’s Executive Officer with whom the communications plan requires him to deal on all matters, so he will not follow that plan.

7 The plan is comprised of a series of letters from Council…