Australia, June 2 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 2:

1. COMMISSIONER: This is a Class 1 Development Appeal pursuant to s 8.7(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) against the refusal by the Cumberland Council (the Council) of DA2024/0278 (the Development Application) for the demolition of the existing structures and construction of a new co-living house (the Proposed Development) on land at 26 Railway Terrace, Granville NSW 2142, being Lot 4 in DP86648 (the Site).

2. The Court arranged a conciliation conference under s 34(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act) between the parties, which was held on Site and at Council chambers.

3. At the conciliation conference, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties and which addressed the Council's contentions. This decision involved Council approving an application to amend the Applicant's plans pursuant to cl 38 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021. The agreed position is for the Court to uphold the Class 1 appeal and grant development consent to the Proposed Development with conditions at Annexure A.

4. There are jurisdictional prerequisites which require my satisfaction before the power to grant consent under s 4.16(1)(a) of the EPA Act can be exercised by the Court. The parties outlined jurisdictional matters of relevance in these proceedings in an agreed Jurisdictional Statement (the Statement) provided to the Court. The statutory planning controls relevant to the Site and the Proposed Development are listed in the Council's Statement of Facts and Contentions.

Satisfaction as to Jurisdiction

5. Regarding jurisdiction and taking into account the parties' advice in the Statement, I am satisfied in regard to the following relevant matters.

Cumberland Local Environmental Plan 2021 (CLEP)

6. The land is zoned R4 High Density Residential under the CLEP.

7. Development for the purposes of co-living housing is prohibited within the R4 High Density Residential zone. However, co-living housing is permissible with consent pursuant to s 67(b) of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 by virtue of residential flat buildings and shop top housing being permitted in the R4 zone under the CLEP.

8. Clause 2.3 of CLEP indicates that regard must be had to the zone objectives when determining the modification application. The zone objectives for the R4 High Density Residential zone are set out in the Statement.

9. I accept the parties' assessment and conclusions that the development application, as amended, aligns with the objectives of the zone as the proposed co-living housing responds to an undersupply of co-living specific housing in the Cumberland local government area, the site is close to public transport, local shops and education facilities, and the development is sited and arranged to minimise impact on residential amenity [Statement, para 28].

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19684396f30b7e8c140b1f24)

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