The ultimate decision on whether a strata renewal proposal is approved is up to the Land & Environment Court. Before the matter goes to the Court, the strata owners themselves must consider whether they wish to apply to the Court…
The Department of Fair Trading has announced that the new strata laws, the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (Act) and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, will commence on 30 November 2016. While the new building defect bond scheme will not start…
Lawyers and conveyancers around NSW are now required to take “reasonable steps” to verify the identity of their clients and establish their clients’ right to deal in a wide range of “Conveyancing Transactions”. This requirement is the result of new…
It is not uncommon for disputes to arise regarding the effect of a subdivision or amalgamation of land, on interests in the land or easements affecting the land.
My previous article examined the concept of value capture, provided a basic land economics justification, and described how it is typically implemented through voluntary planning agreements (‘VPAs‘) under s93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) in connection with planning proposals in an urban…
Section 93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) establishes a statutory system of bargaining for community benefits between planning authorities and persons interested in the use and development of land, such as landowners and developers (‘landowners‘). The bargain…
The public exhibition and submission period for the NSW Government’s proposed changes to the Standard Instrument – Principal Local Environmental Plan (Standard Instrument LEP) commenced on 20 October 2015.
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 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 NSW Office of Finance and Services has released a circular identifying procedural amendments which acquiring authorities (such as local councils and state government instrumentalities), other than state owned corporations, are to abide by when acquiring land under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms…
We are often asked whether a local council requires an easement for its water and sewer works (including underground pipes) to remain on private land and to enable the council to enter onto private land to carry out works on that…
As land owners across the metropolitan area seek to redevelop land for higher density living, Councils are increasingly imposing requirements on development consents that easements, often for stormwater drainage purposes, be acquired over adjoining properties. Not surprisingly, requests to grant…