Malcolm Cooke, Marily Cintra, Myles Gostelow & Penelope Coffey & Act Planning & Land Authority & Ors (Administrative Review)

The case involves Malcolm Cooke, Marily Cintra, Myles Gostelow, Penelope Coffey, Act Planning, Land Authority, and others, who appealed a decision made by the ACT Planning and Land Authority on 28 January 2010. The dispute revolves around the interpretation and application of a Crown lease purpose clause and the conditions of approval for the use of land in question. The matter was brought before the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for review.

The legal issues before the court involved the interpretation of the Crown lease purpose clause and the conditions of approval for the land's use. Specifically, the court had to determine the correct sequence of permitted uses under the Crown lease and whether certain uses should be ancillary to others. Additionally, the court needed to clarify the conditions of approval, including the definition of "tourist facility" and the list of permitted uses.

The court examined the Master Plan and the Conservation Management Plan, which were endorsed by the relevant authorities. It found that the original decision had incorrectly prioritised agriculture as a primary use. The court varied the decision to place agriculture last in the sequence of permitted uses and added a proviso that it could only be carried out as an ancillary use. The court also modified the conditions of approval by deleting certain provisions and substituting others to better align with the Master Plan and the Conservation Management Plan.

The tribunal's final orders included varying the decision under review to change the sequence of permitted uses and add a proviso regarding agriculture. Additionally, the conditions of approval were amended to better reflect the permitted uses and the relationship between the land's use and the Master Plan and Conservation Management Plan. The court also deleted and amended specific clauses within the conditions of approval to ensure consistency with the endorsed plans.