Swanbank Industrial Park Pty Ltd v Rd Catelan Investments Pty Ltd as trustee for RDC Trust

Swanbank Industrial Park Pty Ltd brought an application against Rd Catelan Investments Pty Ltd as trustee for RDC Trust in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The application sought a declaration that a covenant in a Deed of Trust was void for uncertainty and that Swanbank Industrial Park Pty Ltd was not bound by it. The dispute centred on the interpretation of a restrictive covenant within a Deed of Trust, which purportedly restricted the use of a parcel of land in Swanbank Industrial Park.

The court was required to determine whether the covenant was clear and ascertainable in its terms and whether it was enforceable against Swanbank Industrial Park Pty Ltd. This involved examining the language of the covenant and the surrounding circumstances to ascertain the intentions of the parties involved in the Deed of Trust. The court had to consider whether the covenant was sufficiently precise and certain to be enforceable, or whether it was too vague and uncertain to impose any meaningful restriction on the use of the land.

In delivering the judgment, the court found that the covenant in question was clear and ascertainable. The court held that the language of the covenant was precise enough to be enforceable, and that it did impose a meaningful restriction on the use of the land. The court found that the intentions of the parties could be ascertained from the language of the covenant and the surrounding circumstances, and that there was no uncertainty in the terms of the covenant. As a result, the application was refused and Swanbank Industrial Park Pty Ltd was held to be bound by the covenant.