NSW Minister for Planning Pru Goward this week announced an increase in the maximum penalties available to the Land and Environment Court (the Court) against individuals and companies who contravene planning rules. Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979…
Councils are often faced with the question of whether to commence proceedings against an owner of land in respect of unlawful building work carried out on that land by a person other than the owner. A recent decision of the…
A developer was recently fined the sum of $32,500 after pleading guilty to clearing over 3,200 square metres of bushland along the bank of the Blacks Creek in the Cudgen Nature Reserve, in contravention of the National Parks and Wildlife…
The NSW Court of Appeal (Court) has unanimously upheld the validity of an order issued by Narrabri Shire Council (Council) requiring a property owner (Appellant) to restore land to a safe and healthy condition. Although the notice did not identify…
Defendants charged with breaching section 125 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (offences against the Act and its regulations) are often surprised to learn that their offences are dealt with under the same general sentencing principles that apply…
The NSW Court of Appeal has held in Bobolas v Waverley Council [2012] NSWCA 126 that three orders issued under s124 of the Local Government Act 1993 (LGA) requiring the owners of a residential premises in Bondi to clean up…
The Land and Environment Court (Biscoe J) recently handed down its decision in Sweetwater Action Group Inc v Minister for Planning [2011] NSWLEC 106 (Sweetwater), a case that dealt with the question whether security provided under a planning agreement satisfied s93F(3)(g)…