Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales Inc v The Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000 (No 2)

Case [2005] NSWCA 44
CITATION:

Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales Inc v The Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000 (No 2) [2005] NSWCA 44
 
JUDGMENT DATE: 


7 March 2005

JUDGMENT OF:

Spigelman CJ; Beazley JA; Tobias JA
DECISION:

Order that the appeal be dismissed and that there be no order as to costs
PARTIES:

Nature Conservation Council of NSW Inc
The Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000

FILE NUMBER(S):

CA 40112/04
SOLICITORS:

Environmental Defenders Office (Appellant)
Crown Solicitors Office (Respondent)

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION:

Land & Environment Court

LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S):

40573/03

LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER:

Talbot J

- 1 -


                          CA 40112/04

                          SPIGELMAN CJ
                          BEAZLEY JA
                          TOBIAS JA

                          Monday 7 March 2005
NATURE CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC v THE MINISTER ADMINISTERING THE WATER MANAGEMENT ACT 2000 (No 2)
Judgment

1 THE COURT: The Court delivered judgment in this matter on 9 February 2005. The Court ordered that the Appellant pay the Respondent’s costs.

2 The Appellant has approached the Court by Notice of Motion seeking a variation of this order pursuant to the slip rule on the basis that the Respondent did not seek costs and accepted that there should be no order in the Respondent’s favour if the appeal failed. The Respondent accepts that that was so.

3 The Court accepts that the order made on 9 February did arise from an oversight of the submissions in this regard and accepts that the case for variation of the order has been made out. Accordingly, the order set out in par [96] of the judgment of the Court and made in the Court on 9 February 2005 should be amended to read:

          “Order that the appeal be dismissed and that there be no order as to costs.”
      **********
Details
AGLC
Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales Inc v The Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000 (No 2) [2005] NSWCA 44
Case
[2005] NSWCA 44
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales Inc (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister administering the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) (the respondent). The dispute concerned the respondent's decision to approve a development proposal, which the applicant contended was unlawful. The matter was heard by the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the respondent had properly considered and applied the provisions of the *Water Management Act 2000* (NSW) and the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW) in granting the development approval. Specifically, the court was required to determine if the Minister had taken into account all relevant considerations and disregarded irrelevant ones, and whether the decision-making process was otherwise lawful.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The reasoning of the court, as indicated by the orders made, suggests that the applicant failed to demonstrate that the Minister's decision was legally flawed. The court found no grounds to interfere with the Minister's exercise of discretion or the application of the relevant statutory provisions. The decision to dismiss the appeal without an order as to costs indicates that the court did not find exceptional circumstances to depart from the usual rule that costs follow the event, or that the appeal was without merit.

Orders

Orders of the court

Order that the appeal be dismissed and that there be no order as to costs

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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