Manaldo Pty Ltd v Baulkham Hills Shire Council

Manaldo Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the validity of a development consent granted by Baulkham Hills Shire Council (the respondent) to a third party, which the appellant alleged was invalid due to a failure to comply with statutory requirements regarding the notification of the development application.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the development consent granted by the Council was invalid on the grounds that the Council had failed to give notice of the development application to adjoining landowners as required by section 377(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1919 (NSW). The appellant contended that this failure rendered the consent a nullity.

The Court of Appeal, in its reasoning, considered the nature of the obligation imposed by section 377(1)(a). It held that the requirement to give notice to adjoining landowners was a mandatory procedural requirement, the breach of which would ordinarily render a consent invalid. However, the Court also considered the principle of retrospectivity and the potential for validating defective consents. Ultimately, the Court found that the Council's failure to provide the requisite notice was a jurisdictional error that vitiated the consent from its inception.

The appeal was allowed, and the development consent granted by the Baulkham Hills Shire Council was declared invalid.