2013 News

Practice Note for Class 4 Proceedings 

17 December 2013

The Chief Judge has issued a Practice Note - Class 4 Proceedings. The Practice Note commences on 13 January 2014.

Compensation for compulsory acquisition of land

10 December 2013

New pages on compensation for compulsory acquisition of land are now available in the Issues in focus and Types of cases sections of the website.

Latest Housing NSW's figures

12 November 2013

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the  June quarter 2013 are now available. Metro Rural

New and updated Policies

1 November 2013

Court Attire Policy

The Court Attire Policy has been revised to delete the requirement for barristers to robe in Class 3 hearings.
Site Inspections Policy. The policy has been amended to apply only to on-site hearings and court hearings under ss 34B and 34D of the Court Act.
Conciliation Conference Policy

A new policy applying to conciliation conferences under ss 34 and 34AA of the Court Act.

These policies can be found on the Practice and Procedure page under the policies link.      

New transcript provision system

22 October 2013

On 28 October 2013, the Land and Environment Court (LEC) will be introducing a new transcript provision system.  All transcript for civil matters (including daily transcripts) in the LEC will be produced by private transcription firms with the full costs to be met by the parties to the proceedings. Transcripts in criminal proceedings are not affected by this change.

The system will be similar to the system that has operated successfully in the District Court since 2011.

The system will benefit parties because the provision of transcript will be faster than under the current system and in some cases cheaper. The cost of back transcripts will remain as currently legislated under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 at $9.95 per page.  The cost of daily transcript will now be $19.50 per page; however, unlike the current scheme this cost can be shared amongst all parties who order a daily transcript.   A minimum fee of $250.00 is applicable. The minimum fee of $250.00 is payable if the service is cancelled within 24 hours of the commencement of the matter.  It is the obligation of the parties to inform Reporting Services Branch (RSB) of any cancellation of the hearing.

A new order form is now available on the LEC and Courts and Tribunal Services (CaTs) website.      

Judicial Newsletter

18 October 2013

Vol 5 Issue 3 of the LECs Judicial Newsletter is now available.

2012 Annual Review

15 October 2013

The Court's 2012 Annual Review has now been published and is available online. The review provides an overview of the Court and reports on the Court's achievements in 2012, including how the Court has performed against key performance indicators.

Consolidated conditions of development consent to be provided in modification application proceedings

14 October 2013

In a number of proceedings over recent years, issues have arisen concerning the conditions that are applicable to an existing consent where the proposal has previously been subject to one or more earlier modifications. In some instances, new conditions or amended existing conditions as a consequence of the earlier modification have not been incorporated into a consolidated set of conditions of consent. Often, such conditions have been proposed without providing consolidated conditions of consent incorporating such additional conditions or amended and/or deletions of existing conditions with the source of such changes being noted.

Instances have also occurred where there have been multiple modifications with resultant alterations to the conditions without consolidation of the conditions thus leading to multiple condition documents needing to be interpreted. This has resulted, in some instances, in confusion about or uncertainty over the final state of conditions currently applicable. 

There is a need to ensure that if a modification appeal is upheld, what emerges from the Court proceedings is a document that incorporates all applicable conditions, in the interests of certainty for the parties and clarity for any member of the public.

For proceedings commenced on or after 1 November to 2013, if modification appeals are upheld, the resulting orders will be in the following terms:

  The orders of the Court are:

1. The appeal is upheld;
2. Modification Application No …………. to modify Development Consent No …………. for the purposes of ………….at …………., ………….is determined by approving the modifications as set out in Annexure A;
3. As a consequence of order (2), Development Consent No …………. is now subject to the consolidated, modified conditions of development consent set out in Annexure B; and
4. The exhibits, other than Exhibits …………., are returned.   

To ensure that is can be effected, the following new directions are to be implemented for proceedings commenced on or after 1 November to 2013 where the proceedings involve a proposed modification to an existing development consent: 

1. The respondent consent authority’s without prejudice conditions of development consent for any proceedings involving modification of an existing development consent are to comprise any new conditions proposed to be added and any existing conditions to be altered or deleted; and  
2. If modification is approved, the consent authority is to provide, electronically by e-mail (marked for attention of the presiding commissioner), as a Word 97 document and in hard copy, a consolidated set of conditions of development consent incorporating all conditions proposed to apply to the modified proposal as approved.

This consolidated set of conditions of development consent is to set out clearly: 

• conditions that previously applied that have been deleted or amended by the modification approved by the Court (if any);

• any new conditions of development consent that have been inserted by the modification approved by the Court; and

• for any insertion, amendment or deletion, the date and cause of such insertion, amendment or deletion (eg: “ inserted by L&E Court modification 15/10/2013”).

New Planning Principle

4 October 2013

The question of the continuing appropriateness of the planning principle in Edgar Allan Planning Pty Ltd v Woollahra Municipal Council [2006] NSWLEC 790; (2006) 150 LGERA 1 has been reviewed. A replacement planning principle has been published by Senior Commissioner Moore and Acting Commissioner Sullivan in Coorey v Municipality of Hunters Hill  [2013] NSWLEC 1187

Law vacation 2013-14

19 September 2013 updated 11 November 2013

The Judges' fixed vacation begins on 21 December 2013 and the first day of term in 2014 will be Monday, 3 February 2014.

Matters may be listed for s 34 conferences, mediations and hearings before Commissioners throughout the fixed vacation except for the public holidays of Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 December 2013, Wednesday 1 and Monday 27 January 2014.  The registry will be closed on the public service holiday on 27 December 2013.

The final Registrar's directions hearing list for 2013 will be on Friday 20 December 2013. The Registrar's directions hearing list will resume on Wednesday 15 January 2014.

A Duty Judge will be available during the vacation for urgent matters .

Requirements for photomontages

21 August 2013

New requirements for photomontages proposed to be relied on as or as part of expert evidence in Class 1 appeals will apply for proceedings commenced on or after 1 October 2013 - see requirements.

Latest Housing NSW's figures

12 August 2013

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the  March quarter 2013 are now available. Metro Rural

New Planning Principle – impact of a proposed development on neighbouring properties

2 August 2013

The planning principle concerning the impact of a proposed development on neighbouring properties (originally published in Pafburn v North Sydney Council) has been revised. The new planning principle is set out in Davies v Penrith City Council [2013] NSWLEC 1141 at [116] to [121]

Provision of Documents for conciliation conferences or mediations

12 July 2013

New directions have been issued for the provision of documents for matters set down for a conciliation conference pursuant to s 34 or 34AA of the Court Act or a mediation pursuant to s.26 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005. These directions commence from 15 July 2013. The directions can be found on the practice and procedure page under directions.

New Forms

5 July 2013

The Chief Judge has issued a new Approval o​f Forms under s 77A(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979. The new forms require originating processes and other documents filed on behalf of a person to state the email address of the solicitor representing the person or, if the person has no solicitor, the person’s email address. New application forms are now available at forms, other forms will  follow shortly.

On 5 July 2013 an amendment to rule 4.2 commenced. This amendment requires parties filing documents to include an email contact address on all documents. The new UCPR forms are being progressively published on the Unif​orm Civil Procedure Rules website.

Court fees have been increased as a result of amendments to the Civil Procedure Regulation 2005 and the Criminal Procedure Regulation 2010. The new fees are effective from 1 July 2013.

Latest Housing NSW's figures

14 May 2013

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the  December 2012 quarter are now available. Metro Rural

Judicial Newsletter

May 2013

Vol 5 issue 2 of the LEC's Judicial Newsletter is now available

Court Appointments

20 March 2013

Dr Jeffrey Kildea has been appointed as an Acting Commissioner of the Court from 20 March 2013 . Dr Kildea has expertise in Aboriginal land rights and Aboriginal Claims.  

Facade refurbishment and relocation of LEC Hearings

20 March 2013

In the coming months building works will be carried out at 225 Macquarie Street Sydney.  The works will include refurbishment of the facade and building an additional level.  As a result it will not be possible to hold all LEC hearings in the Court building.  Cases that cannot be heard in this building will be heard in the Industrial Relations Commission Building at 47 Bridge Street Sydney.  Parties are requested to carefully check the court list each day to ensure they know the correct location of their hearing.  These arrangements will commence from 26 March 2013.

New Planning Principle – Public domain views

20 March 2013

The Court has published, in Rose Bay Marina Pty Limited v Woollahra Municipal Council and anor [2013] NSWLEC 1046 at paras (39) to (59), a new planning principle concerning public domain views.

Judicial Review Proceedings

The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (Amendment No 58) 2013 published 15 March 2013, adds Part 59 to the Rules. Part 59 makes provisions with respect to judicial review proceedings in the Supreme Court and the Land and Environment Court (Classes 4 and 8).

Judicial Newsletter

22 February 2013

Volume 5 Issue 1 of the Judicial Newsletter is now available.

New Rules regarding agents

15 February 2013

The Land and Environment Court Rules (Amendment No 1) 2013 was published on the NSW legislation website on 15 February 2013 and takes effect on that day.

The object of these Rules is to specify the information that an agent wishing to appear on behalf of a person in proceedings before the Land and Environment Court must provide to the person. The Land and Environment Court Act 1979 provides that, in determining whether to grant leave for the person to appear by an agent, the Court is to consider whether the agent has provided this information to the person. See s63 of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 and rule 7.7 of the Land and Environment Court Rules 2007.

Latest Housing NSW's figures

11 February 2013

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the  September 2012 quarter are now available. Metro Rural

Annotated Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006

A revised version of the Annotated Trees Act is now available, the annotated Act now includes amendments made after the 2010 review of the Act.