Planning and Environment (59)

A recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal has reaffirmed that care needs to be taken by a council when giving an order under the Local Government Act.  At the same time the Court has demonstrated that a practical approach will be taken to interpretation of such an order if its validity is challenged in court proceedings.

For many years now a holiday in an idyllic coastal location along the coast of New South Wales has been considered an Australian tradition attracting many tourists.  Many holiday home owners have sought to supplement their incomes by renting out their holiday homes whilst they are not using them. That tradition has supported the development and wellbeing of many of these coastal communities, but it has also been the source of unwanted impacts on local areas.  In a recent decision in the Land and Environment Court of NSW a dispute between neighbours is likely to result in a significant change to that long standing Australian tradition.

PART 1: Streamlining the system and increasing the power of the Minister and Statutory Authorities – A brief overview. 

Following the release in July 2012 of A New Planning System for New South Wales – Green Paper, the NSW Government has released a White Paper and draft legislation to explore how the system will be implemented.  The NSW Government proposes to implement the New System by way of two bills being Planning Bill 2013 – Exposure Draft and Planning Administration Bill 2013.  The Government's aim is to provide a simpler, strategic system utilising a performance based approach.