Pselletes v Randwick City Council

Pselletes Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had upheld a decision of the Land and Environment Court. The dispute concerned the validity of a development consent granted by Randwick City Council (the respondent) for the construction of a residential flat building. The appellant argued that the consent was invalid due to a failure to comply with certain procedural requirements of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW).

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the development consent granted by the Council was void *ab initio* due to alleged non-compliance with the notice requirements stipulated in section 76(2)(b) of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW) and clause 34 of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 1980* (NSW). Specifically, the appellant contended that the Council had failed to give notice of the development application to adjoining landowners as required by the legislation.

Gummow and Heydon JJ, in their joint judgment, considered the nature of the alleged non-compliance and its effect on the validity of the consent. The Court affirmed the principle that a failure to comply with a statutory provision may render an administrative act void, but this depends on the nature of the provision and the consequences of non-compliance. Their Honours found that the notice provisions in question were directory rather than mandatory, meaning that a failure to comply with them did not automatically invalidate the development consent. The Court reasoned that the purpose of the notice provisions was to inform adjoining owners of proposed developments, but that the legislation did not expressly state that non-compliance would render the consent void. The Court also noted that the appellant had not demonstrated any prejudice arising from the alleged lack of notice.

The appeal was dismissed.