The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Limited

In the matter of The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Limited, the dispute arose in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. The City of Sydney, as the local council, brought proceedings against Streetscape Projects, a property developer, concerning alleged breaches of environmental planning laws and non-compliance with planning approvals. The City sought declarations, injunctions, and penalties against Streetscape Projects for its actions at a construction site in Sydney.

The court was required to decide whether certain evidence provided by Streetscape Projects should be rejected due to late service and whether such evidence was relevant to the pleaded issues. The court also had to consider whether the late submission of the evidence would cause prejudice to the City of Sydney. The key issue was whether the late service of the evidence would result in a denial of a fair hearing, thereby warranting the exclusion of the evidence.

The court held that the late submission of evidence can be a ground for its rejection, particularly when it prejudices the opposing party. In this case, the court found that the evidence provided by Streetscape Projects was relevant to the pleaded issues, but the late submission caused significant prejudice to the City of Sydney as it did not have adequate time to prepare a response. The prejudice to the City was further compounded by the fact that the evidence was not critical to the outcome of the case. Consequently, the court rejected the late-submitted evidence. The court emphasised the importance of timely submission of evidence to ensure a fair hearing for all parties involved.

The court ordered that the late-submitted evidence be excluded from the proceedings and directed that the matter proceed on the evidence that had been properly served. The City of Sydney's claims against Streetscape Projects were to be determined based on the admissible evidence.