The recent prosecution of a council regarding threatened species emphasises the need for councils to have in place robust environmental systems, procedures and instructions to ensure that harm to the environment does not occur when performing routine public works.
A recurring issue for consent authorities, particularly councils, is whether development consent may be granted to development subject to a condition imposed under s80A(1)(f) of the EPA Act requiring a public work to be carried out by the developer if the…
The Office of the Information Commissioner, which oversees the implementation of the GIPA Act, has published guidelines regarding when processing charges for access applications should be discounted.
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Maintenance of Local Government Development Consent Powers) Bill 2011 (Bill) has been introduced into the Parliament. The Bill proposes to abolish planning assessment panels, amend the functions of planning administrators and create an advisory…
The NSW Government has handed back further planning powers to councils. Following recent amendments in relation to Major Projects, State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) Amendment 2011 (Amendment SEPP) requires affordable rental and social housing development to be more…
Major Development Amendment SEPP State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development) 2005 was amended on 13 May 2011 to: remove certain categories of development which the SEPP declares as a major project and are therefore subject to assessment under Part 3A…
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPAA), a person who is aggrieved by a reviewable decision of a Council, such as a decision not to provide access to information, may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) for a review…
The Court has confirmed that councils may charge fees for service that exceed the council’s costs of providing the service.