Activities carried out in breach of conditions of a development consent — including conditions requiring steps to be taken 'prior to commencement' of site works — cannot constitute physical commencement of building, engineering or construction work for the purposes of s 95(4) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), and the development consent will lapse. The Iron Gates principle applies to s 95(4) notwithstanding its different wording from the predecessor provision. The statutory test is 'physical commencement', not 'substantial commencement'.
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