A planning authority's decision to recommend a scheme amendment is not vitiated by improper purpose merely because it was made hastily to pre-empt a pending Tribunal appeal, provided the dominant purpose was a bona fide planning purpose. The statutory scheme for town planning amendments in Western Australia specifies exhaustively the matters the Planning Commission must consider, and neither a pending Tribunal decision nor a draft Local Commercial Strategy is a mandatory relevant consideration. Certiorari does not lie against departmental recommendations or ministerial 'in principle' decisions that have no discernible legal effect on rights.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 11 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 11 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.