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…
The Land and Environment Court has recently considered whether land surrounding an open cut mine and in the same ownership as the mine but used for grazing and cropping activities and as an offset for the coal mine was properly…
New Certifier Regulations – Impacts for Councils
8 May, 2020
The Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 (‘BDC Act‘) will commence on 1 July 2020 together with the Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2020 (‘BDC Reg‘). This article discusses the key regulatory changes they will bring and how these changes…
ALERT – Bill to Ban Real Estate Agents and Property Developers From Holding Civic Office
2 Mar, 2020
On 27 February 2020 the Local Government Amendment (Disqualification from Civic Office) Bill 2020 (“Bill”) was introduced into parliament. It proposes to amend s 275 of the Local Government Act 1993 to provide that real estate agents and property developers…
In response to the impacts of the bush fire crisis, the NSW Government has now made amendments to the Local Government (Manufactured Home Estates, Caravan Parks, Camping Grounds and Moveable Dwellings) Regulation 2005 (‘Caravan Regulations’) in addition to the Local…
Forced Council Amalgamations – the Road Ahead
18 Dec, 2015
The Premier has announced 35 proposals for local council amalgamations throughout New South Wales that will lead to the number of councils being reduced from 152 to 112. The proposals follow the release of the final report of the Independent Pricing and…