Salerno Holdings Pty Ltd v Ku-ring-gai Council

[2026] NSWLEC 1647

NSW Land and Environment Court

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

1. APPEAL — development application — residential flat building — low and medium rise housing near identified centres — sufficiency of site minimum dimension — sufficiency of landscaping — design response to site constraints — character compatibility

Where a local environmental plan identifies a site as having an additional permitted use for residential flat buildings under a site-specific clause (here cl 2.5 of KLEP 2015), that particular provision may prevail over general minimum site dimension controls otherwise applicable to such development, though the court left the point open by also making positive findings under the cl 4.6 exceptions pathway
Substantial compliance with deep soil, tree canopy and landscaped area controls under SEPP (Housing) 2021, the Apartment Design Guide and the Tree Canopy Guide can satisfy the objectives of more stringent local DCP landscaping and setback controls, particularly where the existing streetscape character does not itself strongly exhibit the tall canopy tree dominance contemplated by those DCP provisions
A non-discretionary minimum site area standard of 450 m² under s 19(2)(a) of SEPP (Housing) 2021 provides a sufficient environmental planning ground to justify contravention of a local plan minimum site dimension standard of 24 m, where enforcing the latter would thwart the housing supply objectives of the SEPP