Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: P K Family Investments Pty Ltd ACN 146 471 829 v Wollongong City Council [2018] NSWLEC 1575 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 30 October 2018 Date of orders: 05 November 2018 Decision date: 05 November 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Chilcott C Decision: See [4] below
Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: P K Family Investments Pty Ltd ACN 146 471 829 (Applicant)
Wollongong City Council (Respondent)Representation: Solicitors:
P Rigg, Peter R Rigg (Applicant)
J Reilly, Wollongong City Council (Respondent)
File Number(s): 2018/152142 Publication restriction: No
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: In this matter, at or after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act. As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to “dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the decision”.
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The Court Act also required me to “set out in writing the terms of the decision” (s 34(3)(b)). The orders made to give effect to the agreement constitute that document.
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In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to make, and have not made, any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.
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The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are:
The appeal is upheld.
Development Application No. DA-2018/348 for a boarding house at No 477 Crown Street, Wollongong be approved subject to the conditions which are set out in Annexure “A”.
……………………….
M Chilcott
Commissioner of the Court
Annexure A (110 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- P K Family Investments Pty Ltd ACN 146 471 829 v Wollongong City Council [2018] NSWLEC 1575
- Case
- [2018] NSWLEC 1575
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The court was required to determine whether the council's resolution exempting the property from rates was valid and whether the council was correct in issuing the final demand for rates and penalties. The primary legal issue was the interpretation of the council's resolution and its effect on the plaintiff's liability for rates. The court had to consider the terms of the resolution, the evidence provided by both parties, and relevant statutory provisions, including the Local Government Act 2019 (NSW) and the Local Government (Miscellaneous) Regulation 2019 (NSW).
The court found that the council's resolution was invalid due to procedural errors, which rendered it ineffective. Consequently, the plaintiff's property was subject to the rates and penalties imposed by the council. The court emphasised that the resolution did not comply with the necessary procedural requirements, including proper notice and opportunity for public comment, as mandated by the Local Government Act 2019 (NSW). As a result, the Wollongong City Council was justified in issuing the final demand for rates and penalties against the plaintiff. The court ordered that the plaintiff pay the amount demanded by the council, along with applicable interest.
Orders
Orders of the court
See [4] below
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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