An application for special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision in Arnold v Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000 [2015] HCASL 115 (‘Arnold‘) has been rejected by the High Court. The Arnold decision determined that the NSW…
Newly re-elected Premier Mike Baird has undertaken a cabinet reshuffle resulting in new Ministers for the Environment and Planning. Rob Stokes, the former Minister for the Environment, is the new Minister for Planning and Mark Speakman, new to the cabinet,…
Accurate and thorough information should be provided to consent authorities in relation to contamination and remediation of land to ensure the consent authority can meet its obligations to consider contamination and remediation under State Environmental Planning Policy No 55 – Remediation of…
In the recent case of Dunford v Gosford City Council [2015] NSWLEC 1016, the Land & Environment Court considered whether to grant development consent for the construction of a dwelling which the Council contended would not avoid or minimise risks…
A Council’s notice to a landowner to cease all construction and earthworks on a premises may mean that the landowner would no longer be taken to be responsible for pollution from the premises from the time of the notice because the landowner…
The burden on councils (particularly those in the regulated area) as regulator of non-scheduled activities under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) will be reduced by the lowering of the thresholds for the licensing of certain waste…
The Minister for the Environment, Rob Stokes, has made three orders under the Native Vegetation Regulation 2013 which establish three “self-assessable codes” permitting landholders to carry out certain clearing and thinning of native vegetation species without the need to apply…
Further changes have been announced to the controversial 10/50 vegetation clearing rules amid concern that the rules have been abused for other purposes.
The decision of Johnson v Hornsby Shire Council [2014 NSWLEC 1215] is the first case where the Land and Environment Court has considered the impacts arising from the 10/50 vegetation clearing entitlement in the context of a development appeal.
On Monday 17 November 2014 the Minister for the Environment Rob Stokes MP announced a reform package for coastal hazards involving the repeal of the Coastal Protection Act 1979 and a new coastal management act. The major aspects of the…
The recent Court of Appeal decision in Davis v Gosford City Council [2014] NSWCA 343 makes it clear that impacts on threatened species, populations, or ecological communities, or their habitats are relevant considerations under s79C of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘the Act’),…
The Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), Shane Fitzsimmons, yesterday announced changes to the controversial 10/50 scheme for vegetation clearing. The changes are an attempt to address significant community concern following reports of opportunistic clearing since the clearing…