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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

On Friday 3  April, the State government made the Fair Trading Amendment (Code of Conduct for Short-term Rental Accommodation Industry) Repeal Regulation 2020 (Repeal Regulation), to repeal a regulation it only gazetted on 16 March 2020 regarding short term rental…

We previously posted this blog regarding the enactment of the COVID-19 Legislation Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 which inserted s10.17 into the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces,…

The High Court has handed down a significant decision protecting beaches from native title determinations excluding public access. The case involved 40km of coast in northern Western Australia which was subject to a native title claim. The Full Federal Court…

On 27 February 2020, the Civil Remedies for Serious Invasions of Privacy Bill 2020 (Bill) was introduced to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. The Bill proposes to create a statutory cause of action for the serious invasion of a…