On 30 January 2017, the Premier of New South Wales announced changes to the New South Wales Ministry. These were implemented through the Administrative Arrangements (Administration of Acts—General) Order 2017 (‘Administration of Acts Order‘) and the Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes-Ministers) Order…
Section 440F of the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act) identifies several matters which constitute misconduct of a councillor, one of which is a failure by a councillor to comply with a Council’s Code of Conduct. Although the LG Act has…
The new Crown Lands Management Act 2016 (CLM Act), which will eventually repeal the Crown Lands Act 1989, received royal assent on 14 November 2016. The majority of its provisions are not yet in effect. However provisions regarding the vesting of…
As we recently blogged, the NSW Government has released the much anticipated draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2016 (CM SEPP) for public comment as part of its broader coastal management reform package (Reform Package). This blog looks at the opportunities under this…
The Courts are often required to consider the validity of decisions made pursuant to delegated authority. A recent decision of the Land and Environment Court provides an example of the difficulties which may arise when the terms of an instrument…
On 30 August 2016 the Local Government Amendment (Governance and Planning) Act 2016 (Amendment Act) was made and the majority of its provisions are now in force. This blog sets out which provisions are in force or will shortly commence operation, and…
In a period of a week, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has handed down two judgements addressing whether a person should have access to copies of plans received by a Council as part of a development application. The…
A director of Sydney Drum Machinery Pty Ltd was charged with the commission of two offences against the provisions of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 on the basis that the company had, without reasonable excuse, failed to comply with two (2)…
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…
Increases in the prescribed amount for penalty notices (PIN) for environment and planning offences have seen an increase in the use of PINs, and an increase in the instances where recipients elect to have these matters dealt with by a…
For those Councils in NSW which were not amalgamated on 12 May 2016, Council elections will take place on Saturday 10 September 2016. As a result, the 4 week caretaker period commenced on Friday 12 August 2016. There is a…
The Land and Environment Court this week adjourned civil enforcement proceedings brought by a Council against an alleged perpetrator and ordered the Council to amend its summons to join an additional party to the proceedings. The joinder of the additional party…