A Councillor will no longer be prevented from taking part in and voting at a meeting held to consider an amendment to a local environmental plan (LEP) where the change to the LEP is a change to a development standard,…
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).
The safety of council parking inspectors is a matter of increasing concern across New South Wales as officers are faced with aggressive and abusive drivers when issuing parking tickets. Councils keen to protect their staff are considering equipping officers with audio…
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘Tribunal‘) has recently upheld an earlier decision of the Local Government Pecuniary Interest Tribunal (‘PIT‘) holding that the Deputy Mayor of Auburn City Council breached the pecuniary interest provisions of the Local Government Act…
A recent decision of the Full Bench of the NSW Court of Appeal has reconsidered the special protection councils (in their capacity as roads authorities) have from liability in relation to road work where they do not have actual knowledge of…
The Office of Local Government has issued the ‘Explanatory Paper: proposed Phase 1 amendments’ (Explanatory Paper) to the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act). The Explanatory Paper provides an overview of proposed changes to the LG Act for the purpose of…
The Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government has issued a circular regarding new guidelines (Guidelines) issued to councils under s23A of the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act) on 18 December 2015. The Guidelines seek to significantly curtail what councils can…
The Premier has announced 35 proposals for local council amalgamations throughout New South Wales that will lead to the number of councils being reduced from 152 to 112. The proposals follow the release of the final report of the Independent Pricing and…
The new s119J of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) gives council investigation officers powerful tools to obtain information and or records in respect of matters they are investigating. In this blog we look at this investigative…
The Local Government Amendment (Councillor Misconduct and Poor Performance) Act 2015 (‘Amending Act‘) commenced on 13 November 2015, introducing a host of changes to the Local Government Act 1993 which, according to the Minister, are designed to build on earlier reforms by…
The Court of Appeal has considered the scope of the rates exemption for bodies claiming to be charities and, significantly for councils, whether challenges to rates notices must be commenced within 30 days of receipt of the notice.
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…