Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Riley-Lewis v Newcastle City Council [2016] NSWLEC 1100 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 10 February, 9 March 2016 Date of orders: 14 March 2016 Decision date: 14 March 2016 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Brown C Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: BUILDING CERTIFICATE; existing pergola; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Shay Riley-Lewis (Applicant)
Newcastle City Council (Respondent)Representation: Counsel:
Solicitors:
Mr Grant Long, solicitor (Applicant)
Mr James Marshall, solicitor (Respondent)
Long Legal Pty Ltd (Applicant)
Newcastle City Council (Respondent)
File Number(s): 11026 of 2015
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal against the refusal of a Building Certificate by Newcastle City Council for a pergola constructed at 1/29 McCann Court, Carrington
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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 were made on the date recorded on those orders. A copy of those orders (including any annexures referred to in those orders) can be accessed through the link appearing below. The date of the orders appears on the first page of the orders.
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G T Brown
Commissioner
11026 of 2015 (s34O) gtb (73.8 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Riley-Lewis v Newcastle City Council [2016] NSWLEC 1100
- Case
- [2016] NSWLEC 1100
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The legal issues before the court involved determining the standard of care owed by the Council to the plaintiff and assessing whether the Council's actions fell below that standard. The court needed to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the adequacy of the signage, maintenance, and lighting at the site, and whether the Council had taken reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm to the plaintiff. Additionally, the court had to consider the foreseeability of the injuries and whether the Council's failure to act constituted a breach of duty.
The court held that the Council owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, which included providing safe and adequately maintained public spaces. The Council's failure to provide appropriate signage, maintain the site, and ensure sufficient lighting was found to be a breach of this duty. The court determined that the plaintiff's injuries were a direct result of this breach, as the inadequate conditions at the site contributed to the accident. Consequently, the court found the Council liable for negligence and awarded damages to the plaintiff. The court's decision established that public authorities must take reasonable measures to prevent harm to members of the public, and failure to do so can result in legal liability.
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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