The Court held that section 84(1) of the Property Law Act 1958 (Vic) should be interpreted broadly, rejecting the narrow approach from Re Henderson's Conveyance that has dominated Victorian practice since 1940. The Court found that 'obsolete' means simply 'outmoded' rather than requiring the original purpose to be incapable of fulfilment, that 'impede the reasonable user' includes any hindrance to reasonable use (not just prevention), and that 'substantially injure' requires harm of real significance rather than any harm. On the facts, the Court modified a single dwelling covenant to permit two dwellings on a 1,133m² corner lot, finding this would not substantially injure neighbouring owners.
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