Kevin Roy Jacobs v Hurstville City Council

Kevin Roy Jacobs (the applicant) sought leave to appeal against decisions of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales concerning development applications made to Hurstville City Council (the respondent). The dispute centred on the Council's refusal of these development applications.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Land and Environment Court had erred in its interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW) and the associated development control plans in assessing the applicant's development proposals. Specifically, the court considered whether the Land and Environment Court had correctly determined that the proposed developments were not permissible or did not meet the required development standards.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Allsop P and Tobias JA, reviewed the decisions of the Land and Environment Court. Their Honours found no error of law in the primary judge's findings. The reasoning focused on the correct application of planning controls and the assessment of whether the proposed developments were consistent with the objectives and provisions of the relevant environmental planning instruments. The court affirmed the principles that development must comply with the governing planning instruments and that the Land and Environment Court's role is to assess such compliance based on the evidence before it.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the applications for leave to appeal in relation to each summons, ordering that the applicant pay the respondent's costs.