Randall Pty Ltd v Willoughby City Council

Randall Pty Ltd (the claimant) sought leave to appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had dismissed its appeal from a decision of Talbot J. The dispute concerned an application by Willoughby City Council (the respondent) for a variation to a development consent, specifically relating to the imposition of a fee for the first two hours of parking. The claimant argued that the Council's decision to impose this fee, and the subsequent approval of the variation, involved an error of law.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Council, in considering the application for a variation to development consent under section 79C(1) and section 96 of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW), had demonstrated an error of law by addressing a non-mandatory consideration. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the proposed imposition of a fee for the first two hours of parking constituted an "economic impact" on the "locality" in a manner that vitiated the Council's decision-making process.

The Court of Appeal found no error of law in the Commissioner's decision. It reasoned that the consideration of economic impacts on the locality was a relevant, albeit not mandatory, factor under the relevant planning legislation. The court held that the inclusion of such a consideration did not, in itself, demonstrate an error of law. Therefore, Talbot J was correct in rejecting the claimant's appeal.

Leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal was refused, and the claimant was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings in that Court.