27 February 2007 - Ordinary Meeting of Council (pdf. 14MB)

Ordinary Meeting of Council - 27 February 2007 6 / 5
Item 6
S02466
6 February 2007
A comparison of the average total costs incurred in relation to matters commenced in the past five
years indicates that the cost per appeal incurred by Council has reduced substantially. In relation to
the following table, it should be noted that the figure of $1,251 for the current financial year is
unusually low and is influenced by the relatively small number of appeals for this period that have
been concluded.
50,000
Mean expenditure per appeal
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
42,883
15,869
14,331
9,508
1251
2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007
Factors which may be regarded as contributing to this reduction in costs are:
• Μore efficient processing of development applications that are subject to deemed refusal
appeals so that they are determined at an earlier stage of Court proceedings;
• Μore efficient management of the process of instructing Council’s external legal
representatives;
• Faster progress and determination of appeals by the Court as a result of the revised practice
directions;
• The practice of the Court of frequently appointing Court-appointed experts to provide expert
opinion/evidence rather than allowing the parties to call their own witnesses, which results
in the parties sharing the cost of the witness.
A total of $38,800, or 10% of the total costs, was incurred in relation to 9 matters that commenced
in the current financial year. The balance relates to appeals that were commenced prior to 1 July
2006.
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