The Minister for Environment has released the Biodiversity Assessment Method 5-year review report (Report). The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) requires a review as soon as possible, 5 years after the Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) was first established. The…
The question of whether a consent authority has power to suspend the operation of an easement for the purpose of enabling development to be carried out in accordance with a development consent has again been the subject of consideration in…
“Single Proposed Development” and Likely Impacts in the Context of State Significant Development
8 Apr, 2024
It is not unusual for proponents of major development and infrastructure projects to have to grapple with the question of whether an ancillary, albeit necessary, piece of infrastructure for the project, such as a road, electricity transmission line, or a…
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has issued a guide to assist public officials and agencies in identifying and managing conflicts of duties. The guide relates to conflicts of duties, not conflicts between a public duty and a personal or…
ALERT: Housing SEPP transitional provisions corrected to apply ADG to former SEPP65 pending DAs
27 Mar, 2024
The Government has amended State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP) to correct an oversight which had meant that neither Chapter 4 of the Housing SEPP nor the former SEPP 65 applied to relevant residential apartment DAs made prior…
On 1 March 2024, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Department) published Planning Circular PS 24-001 (Circular). The Circular provides an outline on the existing flood-related planning policies and provides further advice and information on flood matters for planning…
Characterisation of agricultural land uses involving cultivation and processing – a reminder of the principles
21 Mar, 2024
Introduction In a recent decision, the NSW Court of Appeal once again considered the correct approach to the characterisation of land uses, in this case concerning agriculture. The Court dismissed an appeal from a judgment of the Land and Environment…
Yesterday, the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning announced a call for submissions as part of the Committee’s inquiry into historical development consents in New South Wales (Inquiry). Historical development consents have recently been termed ‘zombie developments’ and…
Interim Heritage Orders (‘IHOs‘) are orders commonly made by local councils to preserve the status quo in respect to items of potential heritage value which are not formally protected as heritage items. In certain circumstances, IHOs can be a potentially…
Unreasonable conduct results in the burdened landowner paying costs in s88K proceedings
14 Feb, 2024
Introduction The Supreme Court has the power to grant easements if the easement is “reasonably necessary for the effective use or development of other land that will have the benefit of the easement”: s 88K(1) of the Conveyancing Act 1919…
NCAT Affirms decision of the Commissioner for Fair Trading to disqualify a Registered Certifier for 10 years
13 Feb, 2024
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently affirmed a decision by the Commissioner for Fair Trading (Commissioner) to cancel a certifier’s accreditation and disqualify him for being registered for a period of 10 years. The Commissioner’s decision followed several instances…
It is well established that before a consent authority has the power to grant development consent, the owner of the land on which the development is to take place must give consent to the lodgment of the development application. If…