Shepperd v Municipality of Ryde [1952] HCA 9

High Court of Australia Dixon, McTiernan, Webb, Fullagar and Kitto JJ. Shepperd v Municipality of Ryde [1952] HCA 9

ORDER Appeal allowed with costs. Order of the Supreme Court of 24th September 1951 discharged. In lieu thereof order that the defendant by its servants and agents be restrained until the hearing of the suit or the further order of the Supreme Court from using or permitting to be used for any purpose other than that of a park the area of land bounded by Perkins Street and Driver Street and being the land shown on a certain plan prepared by the defendant for the purposes of Housing Project No. 4 as bounded by the said streets and thereon described as Park. And that the defendant do pay the costs of the motion notice whereof was dated 24th August 1951.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

March 11, 1952 Dixon, McTiernan, Fullagar and Kitto JJ.

This is an appeal by leave from an order of Roper C.J. in Eq. refusing an interlocutory injunction. The interlocutory injunction which the plaintiff-appellant sought was to restrain the respondent Council from using or permitting to be used for any purpose other than that of a park an area of land in the plan of a municipal housing project which was described as a park.

Acting apparently in pursuance of s. 496 of the Local Government Act 1919-1948 N.S.W. the respondent Council put forward a building plan which it called the Ryde Council Housing Scheme. A pamphlet was prepared entitled "Group Housing by Ryde Municipal Council" setting out its attractive features. The pamphlet opened with the statement that the municipal housing programme provided for the erection by the Council of 2,500 attractive homes planned and orientated to suit local conditions and constructed on modern subdivisions complete with all services, children's play areas, park areas, street beautification, roads, footpaths, &c. The separate sections of the scheme seem to have been called projects. That called "Housing Scheme Project No. 4" consisted of a subdivision of a large area of land into streets, park areas and building allotments, of which there were about two hundred and thirty. The names of the streets, the numbered allotments and the sites of the parks were shown on a plan.