A Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court has held that a condition of development consent that required a voluntary planning agreement (‘VPA‘) which had already been entered into to be complied with before the issuing of a strata subdivision…
Earlier this week the NSW Government released an exposure draft of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Amendment Bill 2017 (Amendment Bill) which proposes to make a range of amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act).
The Court of Appeal has upheld the earlier decision of the Land and Environment Court that Council water supply authorities may require development servicing charges (DS Charges) to be paid as a fee for services under s608 of the Local Government Act…
Lawyers and conveyancers around NSW are now required to take “reasonable steps” to verify the identity of their clients and establish their clients’ right to deal in a wide range of “Conveyancing Transactions”. This requirement is the result of new…
My previous article examined the concept of value capture, provided a basic land economics justification, and described how it is typically implemented through voluntary planning agreements (‘VPAs‘) under s93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) in connection with planning proposals in an urban…
Section 93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) establishes a statutory system of bargaining for community benefits between planning authorities and persons interested in the use and development of land, such as landowners and developers (‘landowners‘). The bargain…
A recent decision in the Supreme Court of New South Wales highlights the difficulties that can arise when valuing works-in-kind under agreements between a council and developer under s94(5)(b) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act).
As noted in the previous post titled “Voluntary Planning Agreements in NSW – Ten Years On”, dated 12 July 2015, voluntary planning agreements (‘VPAs’) under s93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act’) have become an important planning tool…
A recent case indicates that councils which are also water supply authorities may require development servicing charges (DS Charges) to be paid as a fee for services under s608 of the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act) as an alternative to requiring them to…
The Department of Planning and Environment has released the second stage of its draft Integrated Mining Policy (‘IMP‘) for public consultation. Among the documents that are available for review and comment is the ‘Planning Agreement Guidelines for State Significant Mining…
The tenth anniversary of the introduction of the formalised system of voluntary planning agreements (‘VPAs’) in New South Wales under s93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act’) occurred on 8 July 2015. This is the first…
The Department of Planning’s Development Contributions Practice Notes – Planning Agreements (July 2005), and many local councils’ planning agreements policies provide that benefits provided under planning agreements should not be used to justify a contravention of development standards. In the…