The State Environmental Planning Policy (Aboriginal Land) 2019 (‘SEPP‘) came into force on 6 February 2019. The SEPP provides for the making of ‘development delivery plans‘ (‘DDPs‘) for land owned by Local Aboriginal Land Councils (‘LALCs’) which must be considered when…

It has long been the case that reasonably minimal preparatory works are sufficient to prevent a development consent from lapsing. A recent case has held that a consent was prevented from lapsing as the result of removal of shrubs, thus…

The Department of Planning’s publication, Coastal Planning Guideline: Adapting to Sea Level Rise, states that time limited development consents are an option to allow for the occupation of coastal lands until they are compromised by coastal hazards. Such development consents have often…

Two recent Land and Environment Court decisions have considered what constituted the land on which a heritage item is situated, and what constituted the land on which an extractive industry was being carried out. The cases remind us that the Court will not consider…

In the recent case of Hakea Holdings Pty Ltd v Louisiana Properties Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 240, the NSW Court of Appeal held that the construction of a road did not constitute the erection of a building, and as a result…

The coastal reforms comprising the State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2018 (CM SEPP) and the Coastal Management Act 2016 (Act) commenced on 3 April 2018. These reforms repealed the Coastal Protection Act 1979 (Former Act). However, the Act and CM SEPP do not automatically…

On 3 September 2018 the Minister for Local Government (Minister) released the 2018 Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Code), and Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Code Procedures)….

Today, the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) announced that the commencement of Part 6 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act), that deals with building and subdivision certification, will be further postponed until 1 September 2019. This…

For the first time, the Land and Environment Court has considered a recently introduced provision of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) which makes a council subject to the direction and control of a planning panel in the conduct of…

On 6 July 2018 the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Codes SEPP) was amended to include the Low Rise Medium Density Housing Code (MDH Code) and the Greenfield Housing Code (GH Code). Consequential amendments were also made to the Environmental Planning…

The provisions of the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (‘CLM Act’) which are not yet in force will commence operation on 1 July 2018 and the existing Crown Lands Act 1989 (‘Former Act’) will be repealed on that day. The CLM…

The Standard Instrument – Principle Local Environmental Plan (‘Standard Instrument‘) has been amended to clarify that the minimum lot size development standard does not apply to either the subdivision of land by the registration of strata or community plans, or the subdivision…