Nouris v Canterbury-Bankstown Council

Case [2020] NSWLEC 1237


Land and Environment Court


New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Nouris v Canterbury-Bankstown Council [2020] NSWLEC 1237
Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 29 May 2020
Date of orders: 02 June 2020
Decision date: 02 June 2020
Jurisdiction:Class 1
Before: Dixon SC
Decision:

The Court orders that:
(1) The Applicant is to pay the Respondent’s costs in the sum of $1,000.00 within 28 days of this Order pursuant to section 8.15(3) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW).
(2)   The appeal is upheld.
(3)   Development Application No. 355/2018 seeking consent for demolition of existing structures and construction of a 2-storey boarding house with associated car parking at 70 Rawson Street, Wiley Park is granted subject to the conditions of consent annexed hereto and marked “A”.

Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION – conciliation conference – agreement between the parties – orders
Legislation Cited: Canterbury Local Environmental Plan 2012
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000
Land and Environment Court Act 1979
State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009
State Environmental Planning Policy (Building Sustainability Index: BASIX) 2004
State Environmental Planning Policy No 55 – Remediation of Land
Category:Principal judgment
Parties: Panagiotis Nouris (Applicant)
Canterbury-Bankstown Council (Respondent)
Representation:

V Conomos (Solicitor) (Applicant)
V Asumugha (Solicitor) (Respondent)

  Solicitors:
Conomos Legal (Applicant)
Hall & Wilcox (Respondent)
File Number(s): 2019/85467
Publication restriction: No

Judgment

  1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to the provisions of s 8.7(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (“EPA Act”) against the Council’s refusal of Development Application No. 355/2018 for demolition of existing structures and construction of a 2-storey 16 room boarding house with associated car parking at the rear. The street address is 70 Rawson Street, Wiley Park.

  2. The Court arranged a conciliation conference under s 34(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (“LEC Act”) between the parties, which was held on 29 May 2020. I presided over the conciliation conference.

  3. At the conciliation conference, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties. This decision involved the Court upholding the appeal and granting development consent to the development application subject to conditions in Annexure A.

  4. Under s 34(3) of the LEC Act, I must dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties’ decision if the parties’ decision is a decision that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions. The parties’ decision involves the Court exercising the function under s 4.16 of the EPA Act to grant consent to the development application. There are jurisdictional prerequisites that must be satisfied before this function can be exercised. The parties have identified the jurisdictional prerequisites of relevance in these proceedings and explained how the jurisdictional prerequisites have been satisfied for the following reasons:

  1. in relation to the Canterbury Local Environmental Plan 2012 (“CLEP 2012”):

  1. the development is for the purpose of a ‘boarding house’ which is a permissible use with consent in the R3 Medium Density Residential zone.

  2. the development is below the maximum building height of 8.5 metres, and satisfies cl 4.3 of CLEP 2012.

  3. the development is below the maximum FSR of 0.5:1 and satisfies cl 3.4 of CLEP 2012.

  1. in relation to the State Environmental Planning Policy No 55 – Remediation of Land (“SEPP 55”):

  1. the subject site has been historically used for residential purposes, and thus not considered to be contaminated land.

  1. in relation to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 (“SEPP ARH”):

  1. the development meets the development standards of the SEPP ARH, and satisfies cll 29, 30 and 30A.

  1. in relation to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Building Sustainability Index: BASIX) 2004:

  1. a BASIX certificate was prepared and satisfied Schedule 1, cl 2A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000.

  1. owner’s consent was obtained and attached to the development application lodged with Council.

  1. The Council informs me that it has considered the merit concerns raised by the objectors and that they have been satisfactorily dealt with by the redesign in the amended application. I accept that evidence.

  2. As the parties’ decision is a decision that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions, I am required under s 34(3) of the LEC Act to dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties’ decision.

  3. The Court orders that:

  1. The Applicant is to pay the Respondent’s costs in the sum of $1,000.00 within 28 days of this Order pursuant to section 8.15(3) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW).

  2. The appeal is upheld.

  3. Development Application No. 355/2018 seeking consent for demolition of existing structures and construction of a 2-storey boarding house with associated car parking at 70 Rawson Street, Wiley Park is granted subject to the conditions of consent annexed hereto and marked “A”.

…………………………

S Dixon

Senior Commissioner of the Court

Annexure A (281705, pdf)

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Details
AGLC
Nouris v Canterbury-Bankstown Council [2020] NSWLEC 1237
Case
[2020] NSWLEC 1237
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Nouris brought an appeal against a decision of the Canterbury-Bankstown Council (the Council) that refused a development application for the demolition of existing structures and construction of a 2-storey boarding house. The Local Land Services made an application for an order that Nouris pay their costs. The matter was heard in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. The court had to determine whether the refusal of the development application was unreasonable and whether Nouris should be ordered to pay the costs of the Local Land Services. The court found that the refusal was unreasonable and that Nouris should not be ordered to pay the costs of the Local Land Services. The court considered that the Local Land Services had not established that their intervention in the proceedings was justified. The court found that the refusal of the development application was unreasonable because the Council did not properly consider the merits of the application. The court found that the Council's decision was based on an incorrect understanding of the site's zoning and did not take into account the benefits of the proposed development. The court also found that the Local Land Services had not established that their intervention in the proceedings was justified. The court found that the Local Land Services had not demonstrated that their intervention was necessary to protect public interests or that it was in the public interest to order Nouris to pay their costs. The court granted the appeal and ordered that the development application be approved subject to the conditions of consent annexed to the judgment and marked "A". The court also ordered that Nouris pay the Council's costs in the sum of $1,000.00 within 28 days of this order.

Orders

Orders of the court

The Court orders that:

(1) The Applicant is to pay the Respondent’s costs in the sum of $1,000.00 within 28 days of this Order pursuant to section 8.15(3) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW).

(2) The appeal is upheld.

(3) Development Application No. 355/2018 seeking consent for demolition of existing structures and construction of a 2-storey boarding house with associated car parking at 70 Rawson Street, Wiley Park is granted subject to the conditions of consent annexed hereto and marked “A”.

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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