Australia, June 7 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 6:

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 deemed refusal by the Northern Beaches Council (the Council) of Development Application No. DA2023/1674 for the demolition of existing dwelling house, the subdivision of one (1) lot into three (3) lots, removal of trees and construction of a new driveway and passing bay (the Proposed Development) at 37 Maxwell Parade, Frenches Forests known as Lot 6 DP 27591 (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. The s 34 agreement could not be finalised until a registered ROW easement was obtained from the neighbour which caused some delay in finalising the s 34 agreement.

4. 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. The terms of the decision include Council agreeing to the amendment of the DA and the Applicant providing the documents and plans as noted below.

5. 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 and considered in the Applicants Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE).

Satisfaction as to Jurisdiction

6. Regarding jurisdiction and taking into account the parties' advice in the Statement, which I quote in part below, I am satisfied in regard to the following relevant matters.

7. The registered proprietors of the Site are Luka Vulic and Marie Vulic. Both owners have provided written consent to the lodgement of the DA in accordance with s 23(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Regulation).

8. The proposed development is also partly located on adjoining land described as Lot 51 DP 843350. The registered proprietors of the adjoining land are Kenneth David Rapkins and Vanessa Rowena Rapkins. Both owners of the adjoining land have provided written consent to the lodgement of the DA in accordance with s 23(1) of the EPA Regulation.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1969dc8f11dc1817a06febda)

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