Australia, April 14 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on March 18:

1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to the provisions of s 8.7(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) against the deemed refusal of Development Application No 0193/24 (DA) for the demolition of existing structures and construction of a dwelling house, cabana, tennis court and associated works at 27 Kintore Street, Wahroonga.

2. The subject site is legally described as Lot B in DP 355372.

3. The site currently contains a two-storey brick house with a tiled roof, located towards the southern boundary of the lot. The site also contains outbuildings including a brick garage, a gazebo and a small brick shed, along with an inground swimming pool, all of which are proposed to be demolished as part of the new development.

4. The rear of the site adjoins the Wahroonga Conservation Area (Heritage Conservation Area C1) and the site is near a local heritage item, the dwelling house "Fairacre" at No 10 Wahroonga Avenue, (item I990), identified on schedule 5 of the Ku-ring-gai Local Environmental Plan 2015 (KLEP).

5. The DA was lodged on 5 June 2024, and notified in accordance with the Ku-ring-gai Community Participation Plan, in response to which three public submissions were received, objecting to the proposal on grounds including privacy, extent of tree removal, scale and lack of articulation of development, and overshadowing.

6. The Applicant in these proceedings filed an appeal in Class 1 of the Court's jurisdiction on 16 August 2024.

7. The Court arranged a conciliation conference between the parties, in accordance with the provisions of s 34AA of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act), which was held on 24 February 2025. I presided over the conciliation conference, commencing with an onsite view, at which the Court, in the company of legal representatives, the applicants and experts, heard oral submissions from residents. Following the conciliation conference, on the basis of amended plans and agreed conditions of consent, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties.

8. A signed agreement was submitted to the Court on 25 February 2025, in accordance with s 34(10) of the LEC Act.

9. Generally, the agreement approves the development subject to amended plans and supporting documents that were prepared by the Applicant, along with the agreed conditions of consent annexed to the s 34 agreement.

10. Under s 34(3) of the LEC Act, I must dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties' decision if the parties' decision is a decision that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions.

11. The parties' decision involves the Court exercising the function under s 4.16 of the EPA Act to grant consent to the Development Application.

12. I formed an opinion of satisfaction, based on the evidence and the submissions of the parties, that each of the pre-jurisdictional requirements identified by the parties have been met, for the reasons that follow.

*Rest of the document and Footnotes can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19591bd1ab0c6c07b17cc38d)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.