The Commissioner upheld a cl 4.6 variation request to permit a dwelling house on a 30.23ha rural lot where the minimum lot size standard under cl 4.2A of the Kiama LEP 2011 was 40ha (a 24.4% shortfall). The Court held that the objective of 'minimising unplanned rural residential development' does not require elimination of non-compliant development, and that a dwelling designed and sited to support continued agricultural use and clustered with existing farm infrastructure can satisfy that objective notwithstanding non-compliance with the minimum lot size. The Court rejected the Council's argument that a prior 2015 dwelling consent on an adjoining lot within the same former existing holding exhausted the planned development opportunity for the subject lot, finding the only relationship between the lots was an easement for right of way.
The full text is available to signed-in members.