Allen Price & Scarratts Pty Ltd v Shoalhaven City Council [2021] NSWLEC 1362

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Allen Price & Scarratts Pty Ltd v Shoalhaven City Council [2021] NSWLEC 1362 Hearing dates: 21-23 October 2019; 11 November 2019; 4 & 13 December 2019; 23 March 2020; 29 May 2020; 5-7 August 2020; 8 & 11 September 2020; written submissions filed on 22 September 2020 and 1 October 2020 Date of orders: 26 July 2021 Decision date: 26 July 2021 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Adam AC Decision: See final orders at [286] below Catchwords: APPEAL – development application – subdivision – community title – threatened species – assessment guidelines – Green and Golden Bell Frog – endangered ecological communities – hollow bearing trees – water sensitive urban design (WSUD) – impacts on oyster leases – PFAS contamination – remediation – containment cell – adaptive management – community management statement Legislation Cited: Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, Sch 2 Pt 2 Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017, cl 7.3 Biodiversity Conservation (Savings and Transitional) Regulation 2017, cll 27, 28 Community Land Development Act 1989, ss 3, 5 Community Land Development Act 2021 Community Land Management Act 1989, ss 5, 13, 13A, 15 Community Land Management Act 2021 Contaminated Land Management Act 1997, Pt 4, s 54 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, ss 4.15, 8.15 (current); ss 5A, 75J, 78A (previous) Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, cll 272, 273B Land and Environment Court Act 1979, s 34 National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, Pt 11 Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, ss 43, 48, 50, Sch 1 cl 15 Roads Act 1993, ss 138, 139 Rural Fires Act 1997, s 100B Shoalhaven Local Environmental Plan 2014, cll 2.6, 3.3, 4.1, 7.1, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 State Environmental Planning Policy (Primary Production – Rural Development) 2019, cl 9 State Environmental Planning Policy (Sydney Drinking Water Catchment) 2011 State Environmental Planning Policy No 55—Remediation of Land, cll 7, 9, 12 State Environmental Planning Policy No 62—Sustainable Aquaculture Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, Sch 1 Pt 3 Water Management Act 2000, s 91 Cases Cited: BT Goldsmith Planning Services Pty Ltd v Blacktown City Council [2005] NSWLEC 210 Nambucca Valley Conservation Association v Nambucca Shire Council [2010] NSWLEC 38 Newcastle & Hunter Valley Speleological Society Inc v Upper Hunter Shire Council and Stoneco Pty Limited (2010) 210 LGERA 126; [2010] NSWLEC 48 Ryan v Northern Regional Planning Panel (No 4) [2020] NSWLEC 55 Smyth v Nambucca Shire Council (1999) 105 LGERA 65; [1999] NSWLEC 226 Statewide Planning Pty Ltd v Blacktown City Council [2019] NSWLEC 1397 Sustain Our Sounds Inc v The New Zealand King Salmon Co Ltd [2014] 1 NZLR 673; [2014] NZSC 40 Upper Mooki Landcare Inc v Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Ltd (2016) 216 LGERA 40; [2016] NSWLEC 6 Texts Cited: A Hamer et al, "Green and Golden Bell Frog Population Study, South Nowra: Final Report", Contract No. 12.2574.2779, Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology A W White & G H Pyke, "Distribution and conservation status of the Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea in New South Wales" (1996) 30(2) Australian Zoologist 177 Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, "PFAS National Environmental Management Plan 2.0" January 2020 G Daly, "From rags to riches and back again: fluctuations in the Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea population at Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales" (2014) 37(2) Australian Zoologist 157 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Endocrine Disruptors (online) NSW Department of Primary Industries, "Threatened Species Assessment Guidelines: The assessment of significance" (February 2008) NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, "Saving our Species Hygiene guidelines – Protocols to protect priority biodiversity areas in NSW from Phytophthora cinnamomi, myrtle rust, amphibian chytrid fungus and invasive plants" (April 2020) NSW Department of Primary Industries, "Healthy Estuaries for Healthy Oysters Guideline" August 2017 NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, "Statement of Management Intent: Worrigee Nature Reserve" May 2014 NSW Planning Assessment Commission Determination Report Port Waratah Coal Services Terminal 4, Newcastle LGA Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2006 Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019 R C Carvahlo & C D Woodroffe, "Evolution from estuary to delta: Alluvial plain morphology and sedimentary characteristics of the Shoalhaven River mouth, southeastern Australia" (2020) 242 Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 106857 R Payne, A Chalmers & J Laxton, "Understanding the characteristics of a groundwater-dependent ecosystem: Eucalyptus parramattensis Woodland at Porters Creek Wetland, NSW" (2012) 12(3) Cunninghamia: a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia 191-211 Sydney Catchment Authority, "Neutral or Beneficial Effect on Water Quality Assessment Guideline" 2015 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Allen Price & Scarratts Pty Ltd (Applicant) Shoalhaven City Council (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: T Robertson SC (Applicant) M Staunton (Respondent)