SJB Planning (NSW) Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney

Case [2015] NSWLEC 1132


Land and Environment Court


New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: SJB Planning (NSW) Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2015] NSWLEC 1132
Hearing dates:Conciliation conference on 16 January 2015
Date of orders: 30 April 2015
Decision date: 30 April 2015
Jurisdiction:Class 1
Before: Fakes C
Decision:

See (4) below

Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: Mixed-use development; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders
Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979
Category:Principal judgment
Parties: SJB Planning (NSW) Pty Ltd (Applicant)
Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent)
Representation:

Counsel:
Mr M Staunton with Ms J Reid (Barristers) (Applicant)
Ms K Ridling (Solicitor) (Respondent)

Solicitors:
- (Applicant)
Legal Department, Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent)
File Number(s):10854 of 2014

Judgment

  1. 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”.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

______________________________

Judy Fakes

Commissioner

10854 of 2014 s34 order (213 KB, pdf)

Details
AGLC
SJB Planning (NSW) Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2015] NSWLEC 1132
Case
[2015] NSWLEC 1132
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the court was an appeal by SJB Planning (NSW) Pty Ltd against the Council of the City of Sydney. The appeal concerned the approval of a development application, specifically the construction of a commercial building. The primary dispute involved whether the council's refusal to approve the development application was lawful and whether there were procedural flaws in the council's decision-making process. The case was heard and determined by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The legal issues that the court had to resolve included whether the council's refusal to approve the development application was based on lawful grounds, and if the council had followed proper procedures in making its decision. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the applicant's rights under the Development Act 2006 (NSW) were contravened. The court's task was to determine the validity of the council's actions and whether there were any errors in the decision-making process that warranted setting aside the council's decision.

In its reasoning, the court held that the council's refusal to approve the development application was based on lawful grounds, as the council had concerns about the impact of the proposed development on the surrounding environment. The court found that the council had followed the proper procedures in making its decision, and that there were no procedural flaws that would invalidate the decision. The court also held that the applicant's rights under the Development Act 2006 (NSW) were not contravened. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the council's decision was upheld. The court ordered that the appeal be dismissed with costs to be paid by the applicant.

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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