Waverley Council v Bobolas (No 2)

In Waverley Council v Bobolas (No 2), the local council sought to enforce local environmental planning laws against the respondents, who were the owners of a property in Bondi. The Council was concerned about the respondents' alleged non-compliance with certain planning instruments and sought various remedies, including an order for service of the summons and subsequent documents by alternative means due to difficulties in serving the respondents at their known address.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the Council could use alternative service methods for the summons and subsequent documents in the proceedings due to the respondents' avoidance of service. The court had to determine if the standard methods of service were ineffective and whether the alternative methods proposed by the Council were permissible under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005.

The court found that the standard methods of service had indeed been ineffective due to the respondents' attempts to avoid service. It considered the provisions of Part 10, Rule 10.14 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 and concluded that the proposed alternative service methods were appropriate in the circumstances. The court determined that affixing the summons and other documents to the property's gates and posting them by ordinary prepaid post were reasonable steps to ensure the respondents received notice of the proceedings. Therefore, the court granted the Council's application for alternative service methods. Additionally, the court reserved the costs of the notice of motion filed on 19 July 2013 for later determination.