Leice Pty Ltd v City of Canada Bay Council

Leice Pty Ltd sought judicial review of a decision of the City of Canada Bay Council to refuse their development application for a mixed-use development at 2-10 Leicester Avenue, Strathfield. The refusal was based on concerns regarding the environmental impact of the proposed development. The Supreme Court of New South Wales was tasked with reviewing the council's decision. The primary legal issue before the court was whether the council's decision to refuse the development application was unreasonable. This involved assessing whether the council took into account all relevant considerations, gave insufficient weight to any relevant consideration, or gave undue weight to an irrelevant consideration.

The court found that the council's decision was unreasonable due to an error in the assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed development. The council had failed to consider all relevant environmental information and had placed undue reliance on an incomplete environmental impact assessment. The court held that the council's failure to consider all relevant environmental information was a material error that rendered the decision unreasonable. The court also found that the council had not adequately considered the benefits of the proposed development, such as the potential for increased housing supply and economic benefits.

The court allowed the appeal and approved the development application subject to certain conditions aimed at mitigating the environmental impact of the proposed development. The court ordered the council to approve the development application, subject to the conditions set out in Annexure A of the judgment. The court also ordered that certain exhibits be returned to the parties, with the exception of Exhibits A, F, J, K, L, and 8, which were to be retained by the court.