Montrose Creek Pty Ltd and Manningtree (Qld) Pty Ltd v Brisbane City Council; Brisbane City Council v Manningtree (Qld) Pty Ltd and Montrose Creek Pty Ltd

The case involves Montrose Creek Pty Ltd and Manningtree (Qld) Pty Ltd, the applicants, against the Brisbane City Council, and vice versa. The dispute concerns the enforcement of infrastructure charges and the compliance with development permit conditions for two lots of land in Keperra. The matter was heard by the Queensland Planning and Environment Court.

The primary legal issues were whether the enforcement notices issued by the Council should be set aside, and whether the current owners of the land were liable for the infrastructure charges. The court also needed to determine whether the liability was a once and for all obligation or if it was a continuing one. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the conditions in the development permit and preliminary approval attached to the land, regardless of any limitations in the planning and development certificate obtained by the purchaser.

The court found that the conditions in the permit and preliminary approval did indeed attach to the land. As such, the current owners were responsible for the outstanding infrastructure charges. The court held that the contravention of the permit conditions constituted a development offence under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. The court ordered the respondents to comply with the permit by paying the outstanding infrastructure charges and restrained them from using the premises for the specified purposes without proper compliance. The enforcement notices were not set aside, and the respondents were held liable for the charges.

The orders included declarations of non-compliance with the permit conditions, a declaration of the development offence, and specific orders for compliance and restraint from unlawful use of the premises. The court mandated the payment of the outstanding infrastructure charges and imposed restrictions on the use of the property until compliance was achieved.