Queensland Construction Materials Pty Ltd v Redland City Council

The case of Queensland Construction Materials Pty Ltd v Redland City Council involved the respondent's application for a development permit for a material change of use of land held under a mining lease. The application also concerned land that was not part of the mining lease but was subject to a registered native title claim of some of the applicants. The Council refused the application but the respondent successfully appealed to the Queensland Court of Appeal. The key issues before the court were whether the native title claimants should be regarded as "owners" of the land for the purposes of certain sections of the Integrated Planning Act 1997, and whether the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Native Title Act 1993 deem the applicants to be "owners" of the land for the purposes of the IPA.

The court held that the native title claimants were not "owners" of the land for the purposes of the IPA, and that neither the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 nor the Native Title Act 1993 deem the applicants to be "owners" of the land. The court also found that the application was not properly made because it did not correctly identify all the parcels of land, and it did not provide sufficient evidence that the chief executive was satisfied that the development was consistent with the allocation of the State resource. The court found that the trial judge had erred in deeming the application was "properly made" under s 3.2.1(9) IPA.

In light of the above, the court allowed the appeal, set aside the declaration made by the Planning & Environment Court, and declared that "The development application did not satisfy subsections 3.2.1(3) and (5) of the Integrated Planning Act 1997." The parties were given leave to make submissions as to the costs of this appeal in accordance with paragraph 52 of Practice Direction No 2 of 2010.