The NSW Government revealed the NSW Planning Reform Action Plan (‘Action Plan‘) last week. The Action Plan aims to help boost the recovery of the economy, reduce planning assessment times, reduce red tape and create a user-friendly planning system. Speaking…

The Land and Environment Court of NSW (‘Court’) has updated its COVID-19 Pandemic Arrangements Policy (‘Policy’). The Policy commenced Wednesday, 8 July 2020 and replaces the previous Policy made on 23 March 2020. A summary of the key changes are…

The State government yesterday introduced a suite of measures through Ministerial directions and determinations and amendments to regulations under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) relating to the payment of State and local infrastructure contributions and levies for…

The Supreme Court recently considered a case involving a Deed of Agreement (Agreement) that was entered into between a council and landowner involving the re-zoning and subdivision of land, and subsequent transfer of part of the land that had high…

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Portal) Regulation 2020 commenced on 1 July 2020 and introduced some important changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000.  The amendments require the use of the NSW planning portal as the central…

Last week the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) announced changes to the operation of Local and Regional Planning Panels, to commence from 1 August 2020. The key change is that local councils will determine modification applications for both…

The Land and Environment Court has recently considered whether a development control order (Order) was validly issued under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act). This decision provides useful guidance to local councils on a number of the…

The Land and Environment Court has recently considered whether land surrounding an open cut mine and in the same ownership as the mine but used for grazing and cropping activities and as an offset for the coal mine was properly…

We have previously blogged about the task of characterising an access way to a development. In the recent case of Ballina Shire Council v Palm Lake Works [2020] NSWLEC 41, the Court considered whether an access way to a proposed seniors…

The Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 passed both houses of the NSW Parliament last week. The Act applies to building works to a residential apartment building that  are authorised to commence in accordance with a construction…

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…