Wendy Wei v Holroyd City Council

Land and Environment Court

of New South Wales

CITATION:

Wendy Wei v Holroyd City Council [2007] NSWLEC 163

PARTIES:

APPLICANT
Wendy Wei

RESPONDENT
Holroyd City Council

FILE NUMBER(S):

11031 of 2006

CORAM:

Hussey C

KEY ISSUES:

Development Application :- Brothel, site suitability, security

LEGISLATION CITED:

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
Holroyd Local Environmental Plan 1991

CASES CITED:

BGP Properties Pty Limited v Lake Macquarie City Council [2004] NSWLEC 399;
Martyn v Hornsby Shire Council [2004] NSWLEC 614;
Yang v Blacktown City Council [2005] NSWLEC 282

DATES OF HEARING:

28/03/2007

 
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 

29 March 2007

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES:

APPLICANT
Mr C. Gough, solicitor
of Storey and Gough

RESPONDENT
Mr G. McKee, solicitor
of McKee Solutions

JUDGMENT:

THE LAND AND
ENVIRONMENT COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Hussey C

29 March 2007

11031 of 2006 Wendy Wei v Holroyd City Council

JUDGMENT

Background.

1 This appeal concerns council's deemed refusal of a development application for internal alterations and additions to an existing industrial unit, which is situated at 1/181 McCredie Road, Guildford West, to enable its use as a brothel.

2 A number of issues were identified for the appeal, which can be summarised as follows:

• economic and social impacts, including the cost and difficulty of obtaining public liability insurance for the strata plan,
• possible adverse amenity impacts, due to the street frontage location of the subject property,
• matters raised by the objectors.

The site.

3 The subject land is described as Lot 3 in DP 733866 and is known has 181 McCredie Road, Guildford West. It has a street frontage of 29.8 m and total area of 2845 sq m.

4 Currently located on the site is a 2 storey industrial unit complex containing 4 units, ranging in floor area from 478 sq m to 483 sq m. The proposed development is to be located within Unit 1, which is located closest to McCredie Road. The existing operations within the complex include a cabinetmaker in Unit 2, an engineering company in Unit 3 and a software development company in Unit 4.

5 The unit complex is setback approximately 15 m from McCredie Road. Access to the property is via a 6 m concrete driveway aligning the eastern boundary. The portion of the site between the unit complex and the eastern boundary is paved for vehicular access, parking and manoeuvring.

6 The locality is predominantly industrial in character, and the surrounding development comprises factory unit complexes and industrial activities to the north, south, east and west. The nearest residential property is located approximately 450 m to the east of the site in Iris Street.

7 This proposal involves internal alterations to the ground floor of Unit 1, to create 3 workrooms with associated showers, exam room, waiting room and laundry room. No internal works are proposed for the first floor. The main features of the proposal are as follows:

• a maximum of 3 sex workers and 2 managers are to be employed and remain on the site during working hours,