Solotel Pty Ltd v Woollahra Council

Land and Environment Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Solotel Pty Limited v Woollahra Council [2011] NSWLEC 1210

Hearing dates:

16 to 19 May and 2 June 2011

Decision date:

21 July 2011

Jurisdiction:

Class 1

Before:

Moore SC

Decision:

1.The appeal is dismissed;

2.Development Application 512/2009 for alterations to and an increase of the permitted patron numbers at the Paddington Inn at Oxford Street, Paddington is determined by the refusal of development consent; and

3.The exhibits, other than Exhibits 7 and B, are returned.

Catchwords:

Increased patron numbers for licensed premises; multiple licensed premises in the vicinity; inevitability of behavioural impacts on residents from existing late night trading licensed premises close to residences; aggregation of impacts of antisocial behaviour; basis for consideration of aggregated impacts and likelihood of increased impacts from granting application to increase patron numbers; unacceptability of urination on residential premises by patrons of existing late night trading licensed premises.

Cases Cited:

Vinson v Randwick Council [2005] NSWLEC 142; (2005) 141 LGERA 27
Borg Architects Pty Limited v Council of the City of Sydney [2009] NSWLEC 1305
Rifon Pty Ltd v Sydney City Council [2006] NSWLEC 778

Category:

Principal judgment

Parties:

Solotel Pty Limited (Applicant)
Woollahra Council (Respondent)

Representation:

Counsel
Mr P Clay (Applicant)

Ms S Duggan SC (Respondent)
Solicitors
Mr B Bulford
Bruce Stewart Dimarco (Applicant)

Mr A Hudson
Wilshire Webb Staunton Beattie (Respondent)

File Number(s):

11037 of 2010

Publication restriction:

None

Judgment

Introduction

1. The commercial length of Oxford Street runs from Whitlam Square at the south-eastern corner of Hyde Park through to the five way road junction at the north-western corner of Centennial Park where Moore Park Road meets Oxford Street. The western end of the strip, from College Street to Taylor Square is within the local government area of the Council of the City of Sydney and is in a recognised late-night trading precinct that contains a significant number of late-night trading, alcohol-serving premises and is somewhat notorious for the levels of antisocial behaviour by patrons attracted to various of those late-night trading premises.

1. The more eastern portion of the Oxford Street commercial strip has none of these general characteristics being much more retail oriented (but not exclusively so) than its western counterpart. Toward the eastern end of the eastern portion of the strip, is located a hotel, the Paddington Inn (the Hotel), that is the subject of the development application that is the basis of this appeal.

The application

1. Applications concerning licensed premises that come to this Court on appeal are usually within one or more of three broad categories. These are:

• additions and/or alterations to the physical fabric of the premises;
• alterations to the trading hours of the premises; and/or
• alteration to the number of patrons permitted on the premises.

1. These proceedings concern an application that incorporates the first and third of these possible elements. The application was originally made to Woollahra Council (the council) seeking to modify substantially the internal space within the Hotel to incorporate commercial hotel operations…