Australia, June 27 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 27:

1. COMMMISSIONER: 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 refusal of Development Application DA24/0158, for alterations and additions to an existing building and change of use to a secondary dwelling at Lot 5 in DP 16383 known as 11 Central Avenue, Como (the Site) by Sutherland Shire Council.

2. The Court was required to arrange a conciliation conference between the parties, pursuant to s 34AA(2)(a) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act). The conciliation conference, which I presided over, was held on 5 May 2025.

Outcome

3. At the conciliation, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties. 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.

4. The decision agreed upon is for the grant of development consent subject to conditions of consent pursuant to s 4.16(1) of the EPA Act. The signed agreement is supported by a Jurisdictional Statement that sets out the matters that the Court must consider prior to the grant of development consent. I have considered the contents of the Jurisdictional Statement, together with the documents referred to therein, the Class 1 Application and its attachments, the joint reports and the documents that are referred to in Condition 6 of Annexure A. Based on those documents, I have considered the matters required to be considered pursuant to s 4.15(1) of the EPA Act.

5. The Council as the consent authority consented to the amendment of the application pursuant to s 38(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Reg). The plans and documents comprising the amended application were submitted to the Court on 5 May 2025 and are listed under Condition 6 of the conditions of consent at Annexure A. Changes made to the proposal to address the contentions include:

* The additional of privacy screens and gate to the balcony deck

* The replacement of the proposed window with an aluminium sliding door to the living / dining of the secondary dwelling

* Inclusion of BASIX requirements and the provision of an updated BASIX certificate

* The location of the bin area for the secondary dwelling behind the approved walling to the Central Avenue pedestrian access

* The inclusion of notations for handrails / balustrading

* The provision of additional dimensions between the balcony deck and the existing tree

* The provision of revised site calculations, and

* Reinstatement of the existing carport with safety balustrades annotated to the carport as per the previous Council approval.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/196fa4f3b201404882d9025d)

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