Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. THE COURT: Grapple Pay Pty Ltd, the appellant (Grapple), appeals against orders made by Nixon J (the primary judge) in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court (the Court below) on 18 February 2025. The proceedings in the Court below ultimately turned on whether the transfer of rural property at Bentley, north-west of Lismore (the property), by Jarrod Conroy (whose trustee in ba...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. MITCHELMORE JA: On 24 October 2023, the applicant was found guilty after a trial in the District Court before Judge English sitting with a jury at Lismore of the following offences: 1) one count of detain with intent to obtain an advantage, namely psychological satisfaction, contrary to s 86(1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) (count 2); and 2) three counts of common assault co...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. This is a review of a decision made by the Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment and Water ("Respondent") to refuse access to certain information. The information sought by the applicant, Mr Sean Purcell ("Applicant") concerns a voluntary public interest disclosure he had made. Background 2. The Applicant was a Senior Policy Officer with Heritage NSW in its Abor...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. LEEMING JA: I agree with N Adams J that the sentence imposed by the District Court was manifestly inadequate, that this Court should intervene on the bases of each of grounds 1 and 2, and with the sentence her Honour imposes. 2. Whether or not the respondent was at the "same level" of the "hierarchy" or "slightly above" or "slightly below" the level of his co-offender on one of...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. COMMISSIONER: This is a Class 1 Development Appeal pursuant to s 8.9 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPA Act) being an appeal against the refusal of Modification application under s 4.55(2) to amend approved DA1383/2021 to vary the Indicative Layout Plan (ILP) and update supporting plans and documents (Proposed Modification) at 470 Fourth Avenue, Aus...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. This is a Class 1 Development Appeal pursuant to s 8.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPA Act) by the applicant against the respondent's deemed refusal of the applicant's development application (DA-2024/297) (Development Application) seeking consent for alterations and a first floor addition to an existing dwelling, demolition of existing garage, c...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. COMMISSIONER: Mr and Mrs Mallios (the 'Applicants') applied to the Court, pursuant to s 7 (Pt 2) and s 14B (Pt 2A) of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) (the 'Act'), seeking orders for the Respondents to remove the bamboo hedge located between the properties. The hedge is located close to the Respondents' side boundary of 7 Borgah Street, Carss Park. The Appl...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. This is an application under s 55(1) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) ("PPIP Act") made by the Applicant on 8 January 2025 for administrative review of the conduct of the Port Stephens Council which the Applicant alleges was in contravention of the Information Protection Principles ("IPPs") of the PPIP Act ("External Review Application"). 2. At ...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 1: 1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to s 8.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPA Act), brought by Lester Lay Wan (the Applicant), against the deemed refusal of Development Application 8.2024.312.1 (the DA) by Mosman Municipal Council (the Respondent). 2. At the date of its lodgement on 10 January 2025, the DA sought consent for the demolition o...
Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 31: 1. COMMISSIONER: St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney has been a part of the Sydney skyline in some form for more than a century, and a Catholic Church has been a feature of its site since a church of that name was first dedicated in 1836. 2. Put simply, it is a site of significance to the Catholic community in Australia. It is also a site of heritage significance for the built form tha...