The existing use provisions of the EPA Act (ss 106-107) are concerned with the use of premises for a lawful purpose, not with whether all physical alterations and additions have been lawfully made. A consent granted under clause 34 of the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme is an effective consent to existing use and is now treated as a development consent under the EPA Act. The maxim omnia praesumuntur rite esse acta supports the validity of historical council consents and prevents councils from challenging their own consents decades later by requiring proof of the state of affairs at the time of the original consent. A presumption of continuance of use may be drawn as an inference of fact from the course and nature of events.
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