On 7 October 2015, a majority High Court bench dismissed the challenge to NSW electoral laws which impose caps on, and prohibit property developers from making, political donations.
The NSW Parliament has enacted legislation which amends the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (ICAC Act). The Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment Act 2015 (Amendment Act) was assented to and commenced on 28 September 2015. The Amendment Act clarifies the jurisdiction and powers of…
Councils can take some comfort regarding the effectiveness of general risk warning signs as a result of the decision of the Court of Appeal in Sharp v Parramatta City Council [2015] NSWCA 260.
The NSW Court of Appeal has overturned the Land and Environment Court’s finding that a council officer had the authority, as an agent of the council, to sign an instrument amending that council’s local environmental plan, so as to rezone…
The findings of the Independent Review Panel’s (Review Panel) review of the scope of the powers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) have been released in a recently published report entitled ‘Independent Panel – Review of the Jurisdiction of the…
In my recent blog Is a public car park a public road? I discussed the case of Cavric v Willoughby City Council [2015] NSWCA (Cavric) in which the Court of Appeal set out the proper approach to determining whether land (in that case…
The Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole, has foreshadowed changes to the Local Government Act 1993 aimed at strengthening and improving the way councillor misconduct is handled.
The Land and Environment Court has recently rejected an argument by a landowner of land intended to be used for residential subdivisions that the proper categorisation of land, for rating purposes, was ‘residential’ and not ‘business’.
The Court of Appeal has recently rejected an argument by a local council that a public car park that had not specifically been dedicated as a public road, was a public road. In rejecting the argument, the Court of Appeal…
The High Court has overturned the decision of a council which ordered that a dangerous dog be destroyed. Crucial to the High Court’s decision was the finding that the decision to destroy the dog was affected by apprehended bias due to the…
A recent decision of the Land and Environment Court has considered the scope of councils’ powers to vary a planning proposal once community consultation has been completed. The decision represents the first case to assess the current statutory scheme for variations…
The Land and Environment Court in the recent case of Friends of King Edward Park Inc v Newcastle City Council (No 2) [2015] NSWLEC 76 found that a commercial function centre proposed to be used for private events such as…