Kettering Pty Ltd v Noosa Shire Council B50/2002

Kettering Pty Ltd and Noosa Shire Council were the parties involved in a dispute before the High Court of Australia. The core of the disagreement concerned the validity of a development approval granted by the Council to Kettering Pty Ltd for a resort development on land adjacent to a national park. Noosa Shire Council sought to revoke this approval, leading to the legal challenge.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Noosa Shire Council had the power to revoke the development approval it had previously granted. Specifically, the court had to consider the legal framework governing the revocation of development approvals under Queensland planning legislation and whether the Council's actions were consistent with those provisions and principles of administrative law.

The Court found that the Council's purported revocation of the development approval was invalid. It reasoned that once a development approval had been lawfully granted, the Council's power to revoke it was significantly constrained. The legislation did not confer a general power to revoke an approval simply because the Council later had second thoughts or perceived new issues. The Court emphasised that administrative decisions, once made, have legal consequences and cannot be set aside lightly without proper legal grounds and adherence to procedural fairness. The Council's attempt to revoke the approval was found to be an unlawful exercise of power.