Valassis v Council of the City of Sydney

The applicant, Valassis, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Court of Appeal. The Council of the City of Sydney was the respondent. The core of the dispute concerned the interpretation of a regulation under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulations of New South Wales, specifically relating to existing use rights.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether to grant the applicant leave to amend their application for special leave and, if successful, whether to grant special leave to appeal. The applicant also sought an enlargement of time to bring their application. The central legal question revolved around the proper construction of the relevant regulation, with the applicant arguing for a liberal interpretation to protect existing use rights, a principle they contended had been contravened by the Court of Appeal's narrower construction.

The applicant's counsel submitted that a fundamental principle of statutory construction, affirmed by the High Court in cases such as *Parramatta City Council v Brickworks* and *Dorrestjin v South Australian Planning Commission*, dictates that provisions designed to protect existing use rights should be construed as liberally as the language permits. It was argued that the Court of Appeal, in its leading judgment, had failed to advert to this principle and had instead adopted a narrow construction of the regulation, contrary to the approach of the primary judge. The applicant sought to amend their application to reflect these arguments and to address deficiencies in the original application, which had been prepared without legal representation.