The Court held that cl 6.1 of Appendix 5 of SEPP WPC requiring 'adequate arrangements' for public utility infrastructure is a jurisdictional precondition to consent, not a development standard capable of variation under cl 4.6, and that a Developer Works Deed with Sydney Water was insufficient where there was no evidence of any arrangement or communication with the adjoining landowner on whose land sewer infrastructure was required to be constructed. The Court further held that the Leppington Town Centre Planning Proposal was both certain in its planning approach and imminent in its making (anticipated finalisation by March 2026), and that the proposed commercial development was antipathetic to the draft instrument's vision for civic open space, plazas and a density pyramid around the train station. The Court rejected the argument that s 4.15(3A) of the EPA Act prevented refusal where the development complied with the current DCP, holding that consideration of a draft instrument under s 4.15(1)(a)(ii) does not constitute imposing more onerous DCP standards.
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