Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Reece Pty Ltd v Blacktown City Council [2016] NSWLEC 1297 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 6 June, 11 July 2016 Date of orders: 11 July 2016 Decision date: 11 July 2016 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Hussey AC Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: Section 121B Order: Non-compliance with car parking, landscaping requirements, and outside storage and display of goods; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Reece Pty Ltd (Applicant)
Blacktown City Council (Respondent)Representation: Solicitors:
Mr A. Gadiel, Mills Oakley (Applicant)
Mr C. Zoppo, Lindsay Taylor Lawyers (Respondent)
File Number(s): 163337 of 2016 Publication restriction: No
Judgment
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ACTING 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, 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 s34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are:
The appeal is upheld.
Items 1 - 4 of page 1 of the Order issued on 5 February 2016 are modified as set out in Annexure A.
…………….
R Hussey
Acting Commissioner
163337.16 - Annexure A (5.84 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Reece Pty Ltd v Blacktown City Council [2016] NSWLEC 1297
- Case
- [2016] NSWLEC 1297
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The primary legal issues before the court were whether the council was liable for the defective design and instructions, and if so, whether the defects were caused by those issues. Reece argued that the council's defective instructions were the primary cause of the defects in the construction, which resulted in significant additional costs. The council, on the other hand, contended that the defects were due to errors made by Reece during construction, and that the instructions provided were adequate.
The court examined the contractual obligations and the nature of the instructions given by the council. It found that the council did provide defective instructions, which were not suitable for the intended purpose. However, the court also determined that Reece's own errors in construction significantly contributed to the defects. The court held that while the council was liable for providing defective instructions, it was not solely responsible for the defects in the construction. Consequently, the council's liability was reduced based on the principle of contributory negligence.
The court ordered that Blacktown City Council was liable for damages arising from the defective instructions but that its liability was to be reduced by 50% due to Reece's contributory negligence. The final order required the council to pay Reece a reduced amount reflecting this determination.
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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