Langway Pty Ltd v Penrith City Council

[2026] NSWLEC 1649

NSW Land and Environment Court

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

1. APPEAL — development control order — restore works order — clearing of land — land to be used for effluent irrigation in wastewater treatment system — whether an existing development consent authorises land clearing in the relevant area — construction of the consent — appropriate terms of modified order

A development consent that incorporates an Environmental Management Plan and its appendices by condition reference necessarily authorises the physical works required to implement the detailed designs contained in those incorporated documents, including vegetation clearing where the approved soil preparation and irrigation procedures are inconsistent with retention of existing vegetation.
Where a consent is expressly limited to Stage 1 of a staged development, the scope of authorised clearing is confined to the areas required for Stage 1 operations as defined in the incorporated detailed design documents, not the larger theoretical areas shown on indicative site plans calculated for the full-scale future operation.
A condition requiring written council approval before tree removal operates as a procedural obligation analogous to obtaining a construction certificate — it cannot defer substantive impact assessment, and non-compliance with it in an area otherwise authorised for clearing may not warrant a Restore Works Order where there is no utility in requiring restoration of land that must be cleared to carry out the approved development.