DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION — s 34AA conciliation conference — agreement between the parties — orders made
Quick Take
1Under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW), the Court must dispose of proceedings in accordance with the parties' agreed decision if that decision is one the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions. This requires the Court to be satisfied that the jurisdictional prerequisites are met, but not to undertake a merit assessment of the discretionary s 4.15(1) matters.
2On the facts, written cl 4.6 requests were accepted as justifying contravention of two development standards in the Sutherland LEP 2015: the 8.5 m height standard (a 24.8% exceedance confined to the central high point of a new dwelling, and a 4.3% exceedance arising from re-roofing an existing non-compliant dwelling) and the cl 6.9 foreshore area standard (a minor encroachment comparable to the existing dwelling, attributed to an unusual foreshore building line). The acceptance rested on the agreed position of the parties and their planning experts.
3Objectors' concerns about geotechnical stability and stormwater were treated as addressed for the purposes of s 4.15(1)(d) and cll 6.2 and 6.4 of the LEP. This was achieved through amendments made during conciliation, supplementary geotechnical and stormwater reports, and conditions requiring support of adjoining structures and dilapidation reports provided to neighbours.
