A recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal – Botany Bay City Council v Saab Corp Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 308 – held that a condition of development consent requiring a developer to place telecommunications and electricity cables underground (Cabling…
Conflicting objectives and overlapping purposes – A recent case looks at permissibility under Local Environment Plans
15 Nov, 2011
In a recent decision – Abret Pty Ltd vWingecarribee Shire Council [2011] NSWCA 107 – the News South Wales Court of Appeal has considered the role of objectives in local environment plans as well as how to determine the permissibility of developments with multiple and…
In a previous post on this site (which can be accessed here) , we discussed the proposed changes to the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994 (PID Act) which will expand protection to whistleblowers in relation to local government matters. Most…
A number of increases to existing fees will be implemented with the commencement of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Further Amendment Regulation 2010, which comes into effect on 1 July 2011. From that date, councils can charge a fee for…
Changes are proposed to the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994 (PID Act) by the Public Interest Disclosures Amendment Bill 2011 to expand the matters that whistleblowers may disclose to the Chief Executive, Local Government.
Joint management of public libraries
17 Jun, 2011
On and from 7 June 2011, amendments to the Library Act 1939 will allow two or more Councils, with approval of the Minister for the Arts to enter into an arrangement to jointly manage library services in their local government areas. Prior…
The Infrastructure NSW Bill 2011 has been introduced into the NSW Parliament. The Bill proposes to establish Infrastructure NSW to co-ordinate, oversee and monitor the delivery of and in some cases carry out and take over responsibility for major infrastructure projects…
The Office of the Information Commissioner, which oversees the implementation of the GIPA Act, has published guidelines regarding when processing charges for access applications should be discounted.
Abolition of planning assessment panels and changes to planning administrator functions
25 May, 2011
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Maintenance of Local Government Development Consent Powers) Bill 2011 (Bill) has been introduced into the Parliament. The Bill proposes to abolish planning assessment panels, amend the functions of planning administrators and create an advisory…
Review of GIPAA Decisions Made by Councils – Planning meetings in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal
10 May, 2011
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPAA), a person who is aggrieved by a reviewable decision of a Council, such as a decision not to provide access to information, may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) for a review…
The Court has confirmed that councils may charge fees for service that exceed the council’s costs of providing the service.
With the public submissions phase of the draft Workplace Health and Safety Regulations and Model Codes of Practice closing on 4 April 2011, we are now entering the final phase of the national health and safety laws harmonisation process.