Australia, June 30 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 29:

1. These proceedings concern a charitable trust. The trustee of the trust considers that it has become impracticable, or seriously inconvenient, to carry out the trust in accordance with its objects as originally defined, and seeks to have the Court exercise its power to resettle the terms of the trust cy-pres. The application is supported by the Attorney General as protector of charities. But the Court must of course be persuaded that it is justified.

2. The trust the subject of the proceedings is known as the "Street of Dreams Martin Sharp Trust" ("the Trust"). It was established pursuant to the terms of the will of the well-known Sydney artist Martin Sharp ("the Testator"), who died in December 2013.

3. In his will, the Testator appointed Ms Roslyn Sharp and five other nominated individuals as his executors and trustees ("the Executors") and gave his property to them for them to apply it for particular purposes. The purposes will be described in more detail below but essentially involved retaining the Testator's house and art collection as a venue for ongoing collaborative artistic work, including the completion of the testator's unfinished artistic projects.

4. The will was the subject of previous proceedings in this Court in 2015. The primary question for determination in those proceedings was whether the will's gift of property to the Executors created a valid charitable trust. Stevenson J held that it did and made a declaration accordingly; his Honour also determined various other questions concerning the administration of the Trust: Sharp v Attorney General of NSW [2015] NSWSC 1580 ("J1").

5. Ms Sharp and three of the other Executors were the plaintiffs in the 2015 proceedings before Stevenson J. One of the ancillary questions for determination was whether it was open to the Executors to have the Trust (if valid) administered by a corporate trustee (as the Testator had himself proposed in his will). His Honour concluded that it was: J1 [47]-[49].

6. The corporate trustee proposed by the Testator was the present plaintiff, Street of Dreams Martin Sharp Limited ("the Trustee Company"). It had been incorporated in 1981 as a proprietary company under the name "Street of Dreams Pty Limited". For the purpose of constituting it as trustee, it was converted to a public company limited by guarantee and its current name was adopted. Pursuant to a deed of trust between the Executors and the Company in December 2018 ("the Trust Deed"), the deceased's property was formally transferred to the Company for it to administer the Trust.

Background and procedural history

7. The findings made by Stevenson J in the 2015 judgment were accepted in full by the parties to these proceedings. The facts canvassed in that judgment will only be referred to in outline in the present judgment.

8. The Testator was born in Sydney in January 1942 and grew up in Bellevue Hill in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. His family home was a large house, now heritage listed, known as "Wirian". He was an only child and never married or had children.

9. The Testator's artistic career and interests are not easily categorised. His work included song lyrics and filmmaking. But he is probably best known as a graphic artist. In this capacity he produced not only paintings and prints but also album covers and posters, some of which are among his best-known works.

10. The Testator's artistic interests took him to London in the 1960s and early 1970s, where he was one of those responsible for the production of the counter-culture magazine Oz. He befriended, and worked with, a number of figures who became well known for their involvement in the music, art and literature of the day.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1971535bfd08078916fcc527)

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