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Sentencing for Environmental Offences

8 Aug, 2013

A developer was recently fined the sum of $32,500 after pleading guilty to clearing over 3,200 square metres of bushland along the bank of the Blacks Creek in the Cudgen Nature Reserve, in contravention of the National Parks and Wildlife…

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Managing resident expectations in planning appeals

10 Jan, 2013

Resident objectors have a unique role in development appeals in Class 1 of the Land & Environment Court’s jurisdiction. However there are some limitations to that role which,  if not adequately explained to residents, can lead to dissatisfaction with the…

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More on savings provisions

4 Dec, 2012

Further to our blog on the effect of savings provisions in planning instruments on existing use rights, a Commissioner of the Land & Environment Court has also considered the proper interpretation of the savings provision in cl1.8A of the The Hills…

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Savings provisions, existing uses and existing consents

13 Nov, 2012

In the decision of Presrod Pty Limited v Wollongong City Council [2012] NSWLEC 240, the Court considered whether a prohihited development, which was approved in reliance on savings provisions in the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan 2009 (LEP) had the benefit of existing…

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The death of Development Control Plans?

30 Oct, 2012

We have reported on the introduction of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Amendment Bill 2012 (Bill) in an earlier blog.  In this article I will address the significant changes to the provisions of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979…

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Penalty for Council’s water pollution offence

26 Oct, 2012

In Environmental Protection Authority v Queanbeyan City Council (No. 3) [2012] NSWLEC 220, the Land and Environment Court considered what was the appropriate sentence to impose in respect of an offence by  the Council of polluting waters under s120 of…

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