Section 88K of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (‘s88K‘) enables the Supreme Court to grant an easement over land in circumstances where such an easement is reasonably necessary for the effective use or development of the land which is to have…
COVID-19 – Investigations via AVL
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Acts were amended to enable authorised officers and investigation officers to take evidence and answers to questions by audio link or audio visual link. Those provisions were repealed on 13 November…
The ownership and control of public land is varied. It may be owned and managed by a local council, or owned by the Council and managed by the private sector. Alternatively it may be owned by the State government and…
There are significant consequences for councillors who are absent from council meetings, including the ‘vacation of civic office’ in the case of absence from 3 consecutive ordinary meetings of a council without the prior leave of the council. In Loder…
Drainage reserves vested in local councils are public land as defined in the Local Government Act 1993 (‘LG Act‘). All public land must be classified as either community or operational under the LG Act. The Registrar-General’s Guidelines under section 12D of the…
We previously posted a blog regarding the enactment of the COVID-19 Legislation Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 (Emergency Measures Act) which amended various statutes including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) and the Local Government Act 1993…
Powers of entry to residential land clarified
This decision relates to the latest instalment of the cases involving members of the Bobolas family and Waverley Council (‘Council‘) with the Council issuing orders to require or allow the clean-up of the accumulation of waste that creates a public…
ALERT – Revised Model Code of Conduct and Associated Procedures for Local Councils in NSW
On 7 August 2020, the NSW Government published The Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW 2020 (New Model Code) and the New Code for the Administration of The Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW…
Busting the myth: is information released under the GIPA Act really released ‘to the world’?
The release of information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) is commonly referred to as being a release to the world at large. However, this view erroneously conflates the requirement in the GIPA Act for the…
The Supreme Court recently considered a case involving a Deed of Agreement (Agreement) that was entered into between a council and landowner involving the re-zoning and subdivision of land, and subsequent transfer of part of the land that had high…
The Land and Environment Court has recently considered whether land surrounding an open cut mine and in the same ownership as the mine but used for grazing and cropping activities and as an offset for the coal mine was properly…
The Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 passed both houses of the NSW Parliament last week. The Act applies to building works to a residential apartment building that are authorised to commence in accordance with a construction…