Author Archives: michael levy

About michael levy

Michael Levy is a Senior Lawyer with Lindsay Taylor Lawyers. Michael has a background in both planning and property law, acting for both public and private sector clients, across advice, transactional and litigious matters in the Land & Environment Court.

Thinking of challenging the validity of a development consent? The sooner, the better!

Posted on October 29, 2018 by and

Generally proceedings challenging an administrative decision must be commenced within 3 months of the decision being made.  However, the Court does have the discretion to vary this time frame. Three recent decisions in the Land and Environment Court involving challenges … Continue reading →

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Infrastructure SEPP amendments commence – additional consultation requirements for certain activities

Posted on October 3, 2018 by and

On 31 August 2018, a range of changes to State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure) 2007 (‘Infrastructure SEPP‘) came into force following the commencement of the  State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure)  Amendment 2018 (‘2018 Amendments‘).

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ALERT – Land-clearing Code declared invalid

Posted on March 9, 2018 by

The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales has declared the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2017 (‘Code‘) made under the Local Land Services Act 2013 (‘LLS Act‘) to be “invalid and of no effect”.

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Update: Strata Renewal Plan Applications – Guidance from the LEC on joinder and costs

Posted on February 22, 2018 by and

In two related decisions, the Land and Environment Court has provided guidance in relation to the process for joinder of parties to an application to the Court to give effect to  Strata Renewal Plans (SRP Application) under the Strata Schemes Development … Continue reading →

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A “reasonable excuse” for delay in bringing an application for GIPA Act review

Posted on February 15, 2018 by and

In a recent decision of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), an application for review of an agency’s decision to refuse access to documents requested under the Government Information (Public Acccess) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) which was lodged out of time … Continue reading →

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On the road again: scope of protection for councils under s45 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 expanded

Posted on October 24, 2017 by and

In a recent decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the special non-feasance protection for roads authorities in s45 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (CL Act) was held to apply to a Council in respect of an RMS road under … Continue reading →

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ALERT – Consultation Draft of revised Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW released today for public comment

Posted on October 23, 2017 by and

The Office of Local Government (OLG) has today issued consultation drafts of a revised Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Model Code) and revised Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code for Local Councils in NSW (Code Procedures), both … Continue reading →

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Greater (un)certainty lies ahead for Airbnb and Short-term Holiday Letting in NSW

Posted on September 14, 2017 by and

Recently, the NSW Government released an Options Paper on Short-term Holiday Letting (STHL) in NSW. The STHL industry in NSW has expanded significantly in recent years and in response to this, in 2016, the NSW Government conducted a public inquiry on the Adequacy of … Continue reading →

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Opening the (flood) gates to liability for roads authorities

Posted on March 28, 2017 by

In a recent decision of the Supreme Court of NSW, a roads authority was found liable in negligence when a local resident, walking his dogs at night on a poorly lit roadside verge in a suburban area,  fell over the … Continue reading →

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New Planning Laws for NSW – public consultation period extended

Posted on March 13, 2017 by

As previously reported, the exposure draft of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Amendment Bill 2017 (Amendment Bill)  is available for public consultation. It was released on 10 January 2017.

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