The Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (‘EP&A Reg 2021‘) commences on 1 March 2022 with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (‘EP&A Reg 2000‘) to be repealed on the same day. The NSW Government has stated that the…
The use of evidence that may incriminate – Investigative powers under the POEO Act considered by the Court
16 Feb, 2022
In a recent decision of the NSW Land and Environment Court (Court), the Court considered how investigative powers under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) can be used to gather a broad range of evidence and…
Exhibition of the Design and Place SEPP 2021
22 Dec, 2021
UPDATE: On 6 April 2022, the Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes Anthony Roberts announced that, following public exhibition, the NSW government will not be introducing the Design and Place State Environmental Planning Policy. The Minister has advised that…
On 27 October 2021, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Compliance Cost Notices) Regulation 2021 (Amendment) commenced with the purpose of simplifying compliance cost notices (CCN’s). The Amendment has been introduced as a result of council feedback that CCN’s were…
The New NSW Alfresco Dining Regime
1 Nov, 2021
As we all look forward to returning to our local restaurants, pubs and cafes the NSW Government has released their ‘Alfresco Restart Package’. Included in the Alfresco Restart Package are changes to the planning rules to enable premises across the…
Proposed reforms to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000: Further Observations
30 Aug, 2021
In an earlier post, we alerted readers that on 5 August 2021 the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) released for public consultation the draft Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (Draft EPA Reg). The Draft EPA Reg is…
ALERT: Exhibition Draft of the Proposed Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021
9 Aug, 2021
On 5 August 2021, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (‘DPIE’) released for public consultation the draft Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (‘Draft EPA Regulation‘), which is intended to replace the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (‘EPA Regulation 2000‘). The…
In January 2021 we blogged on the State Government’s proposed Rapid Assessment Framework (RAF) for the regulation of State Significant Development (SSD) and State Significant Infrastructure (SSI). We set out in that blog the general scope of the proposed amendments…
As part of a suite of reforms introduced with the 2021–22 Budget, the NSW Government introduced the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Infrastructure Contributions) Bill 2021 (‘Bill‘) to the Legislative Assembly on 22 June 2021. The Bill proposes to rewrite the…
Court clarifies the meaning of ‘pollution’ and finds civil liability for downstream erosion
3 May, 2021
Justice Preston, Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, recently issued judgment against the Sydney Water Corporation (Sydney Water) in proceedings brought by JK Williams Staff Pty Ltd (Williams) for the significant erosion 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…
A recent decision by the Land and Environment Court provides some guidance on how a proposal to offset biodiversity impacts must be considered in determining a development application under Part 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act). Although…