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

Ordinary Meeting of Council - 27 February 2007 6 / 6
Item 6
S02466
6 February 2007
SUMMARY BY WARD
A summary of Land & Environment Court costs by ward is shown in the following table:
Land & Environment Court costs by Ward for the financial year 2006/2007
Comenarra $23,916 6.3%
Gordon $11,730 3.1%
Roseville $66,335 17.4%
St Ives $172,822 45.2%
Wahroonga $107,330 28.0%
Total Costs $382,133 100.0%
OUTCOMES
At an early stage of each appeal, Council as respondent, is required to file with the Court a
Statement of Issues outlining the grounds which Council asserts as warranting refusal of a
development, or alternatively, that may be addressed by way of conditions of consent.
In cases where issues raised by Council are capable of resolution by the provision by the applicant
of additional information or amendment of the proposal, it is the Court’s expectation that this
should occur. The Court’s current practice of appointing a Court-appointed expert witness, rather
than allowing the parties to call their own expert evidence, strongly encourages this.
In this context, any of three outcomes can be regarded as favorable, namely:
1. If the appeal is in relation to a deemed refusal of an application which, upon assessment,
is appropriate for approval: that the development is determined by Council, allowing the
appeal to be discontinued by the applicant and avoiding as much as is practicable the
incurring of unnecessary legal costs;
2. If the issues raised by Council are capable of resolution by the applicant providing
further information, or amending the proposal: that this occurs, so that development
consent should be granted, either by Council or the Court;
3. If the issues raised by Council are either not capable of resolution, or the applicant
declines to take the steps that are necessary to resolve them: that the appeal is either
discontinued by the applicant, or dismissed (refused) by the Court.
Of the 31 appeals commenced in the half year ended December 2006, only 6 appeals were resolved
in that period. Five of which were discontinued by the applicant.
CONSULTATION
Not applicable.
N:\070227-OMC-SR-03649-ANALYSIS OF LAND ENVIRON.doc/athaide /6