Saunders v Chief Executive, Primary Industries Corporation

In the case of Saunders v Chief Executive, Primary Industries Corporation, the appellants, Mr. and Mrs. Saunders, appealed against the decision of the Chief Executive of Primary Industries Corporation to issue Waterworks Licences G54371 and G54372 to the Rogans for irrigation and drainage purposes. The appellants argued that the licensed works would cause erosion of the Thuraggi Watercourse, flooding of their agricultural lands, and potential contamination of their land. The legal issues before the court were whether the Chief Executive had given adequate weight to the appellants' objections, had considered appropriate and sufficient data, and had failed to consider alternative design and construction options.

The court found that the Chief Executive had given adequate and proper weight to the appellants' objections and had not taken into account inappropriate or insufficient data. While there was a conflict of opinion on the sufficiency of the data, the court preferred the Chief Executive's reasoning over that of the appellants' expert consultant. The court also found that the appellants had not proven that alternative design and construction options were available that would achieve the applicants' objectives in an economic manner and minimize the effects of additional flooding and depositing of contaminants.

The court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision of the Chief Executive in issuing Licences G54371 and G54372. The court ordered that a copy of the decision be forwarded to the applicants, and the applicants should note the evidence of both experts as it relates to alternative design and the potential financial implications imposed by Special Term SPEC01 in Licence G54372. The court held that it would not be appropriate to require design criteria to be based on events that have not and cannot be proved or reasonably adopted on the balance of probabilities for private projects of the subject scale. If the appellants found this unacceptable, the opportunity for mitigation works, at their expense, was available in association with the licensing of their presently unlicensed works, which must also impact on the behaviour patterns of the watercourse.