In the recent decision of Ballina Shire Council v Palm Lake Works Pty Ltd [2020] NSWLEC 41 (Ballina v Palm Lake), the Land and Environment Court emphasised the importance of properly considering the matters listed in s4.15(1) of the Environmental…

The Land and Environment Court recently ruled that there is no right of appeal against a council’s decision to reject a development application (DA). This changes the legal position, as an earlier decision of the Court held that there was…

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has again dealt with a dispute concerning public access to copyright material under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act). While the facts of this case are similar to those of a case…

On 14 May 2020 significant changes were made to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) to implement emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Extension of Time to commence Class 1 Appeals  Previously, a person had 6…

Last week 2 significant changes were made to the law in respect of the lapsing of developments consents. First, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (EPA Reg) was amended to preclude preliminary works from saving a consent from lapsing, and…

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has announced proposed amendments to the regulations, directions, guidelines and policies relevant to flooding and flood-related constraints in land use planning  (‘Flood Prone Land Package‘). The Flood Prone Land Package has been…

The Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 (‘BDC Act‘) will commence on 1 July 2020 together with the  Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2020 (‘BDC Reg‘). This article discusses the key regulatory changes they will bring and how these changes…

The State Government has introduced the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (COVID-19 Planning Bodies) Regulation 2020 (‘COVID Reg‘).  The COVID Reg deals with the holding of public meetings and public hearings by planning bodies.  It is aimed at ensuring both the…

The Land and Environment Court recently examined the meaning of ‘occupier’ in the context of a prevention notice issued under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). This issue is important as regulatory authorities’ powers to issue prevention…

For the first time since 2016, the Civil and Administrative Tribunal has restrained individuals from making applications for access to information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act).

Many councils have been investigating ways to provide some financial relief to ratepayers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However the strict financial and procedural provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act) have presented various obstacles to doing…

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has announced a suite of proposed reforms to the development contributions system in NSW. The DPIE states that the purpose of the reforms are to ‘…fix the uncertainty of developer contributions to…