Australia, July 3 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 3:

1. COMMISSIONER: These Class 1 proceedings arise as a result of the deemed refusal, by the City of Sydney Council, of Development Application DA2024/842 which seeks consent for the demolition of an existing dwelling and construction of a three-storey dwelling with basement, new rear garage with studio above, associated landscaping and tree removal at Lot 1 DP 1307323, 4 Alexander Street, Paddington (the site).

2. These proceedings have been brought to the Court pursuant to s 8.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act).

3. 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 24 March and 10 April 2025. I presided over the conciliation conference.

4. After the conciliation conference, the parties reached agreement as to acceptable terms of a decision in the proceedings. This decision involved the Court upholding the appeal and granting development consent to the development application subject to conditions.

5. As part of this agreement, pursuant to s 38 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Regulation), the Council agreed to the applicants amending the development application to adequately respond to the Council's contentions. The amended application involves the partial retention of the existing dwelling, with alterations and additions to the rear.

6. Under s 34(3) of the LEC Act, I must dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties' decision if that decision is one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions. The parties' decision involves the Court exercising the function under s 4.16 of the EPA Act to grant consent to the development application. There are jurisdictional prerequisites that must be satisfied before this function can be exercised, which the parties identified in a jurisdictional note. From this, I note the following points.

Jurisdictional matters

7. The development application was made with the written consent of the owner of the land.

8. The application was adequately notified from 3 October to 1 November 2024, during which time nineteen submissions were received. The amended application was renotified form 2 May to 17 May 2025, during which time a further eight submissions were made. Based on the amended application, the parties submit, and I accept, that the development as amended adequately responds to the concerns raised in these submissions.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1971eba5ef5906f5e8dd075f)

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