Cooke v Tweed Shire Council [2024] NSWCA 50

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Cooke v Tweed Shire Council [2024] NSWCA 50 Hearing dates: 21 February 2024 Date of orders: 11 March 2024 Decision date: 11 March 2024 Before: Ward P at [1]; Gleeson JA at [2]; Basten AJA at [3] Decision: (1) To the extent necessary, grant the appellant leave to appeal from the judgment and orders made in the Land and Environment Court on 11 July 2023 (declarations) and on 22 September 2023 (costs). (2) Direct that the undated further amended notice of appeal be filed within 7 days of the delivery of this judgment and dispense with any further procedural steps in relation to the notice of appeal. (3) Extend the time for filing the first respondent's notice of contention dated 20 February 2024 and grant the first respondent leave to rely upon it in the appeal. (4) Dismiss the appeal. (5) Order that the appellant pay the first respondent's costs of the proceedings in this Court. Catchwords: APPEALS – judgment of Land and Environment Court – standard of review – characterisation of land use – evaluative judgment – correctness standard applied ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING – civil enforcement proceeding – Local Environment Plan – permissible uses not requiring consent – characterisation of land use – cultivation of low-THC hemp – processing hemp leaves – production of goods for sale – whether cultivating hemp was "horticulture" or "extensive agriculture" – whether processing ancillary or incidental to cultivation activities – uses requiring consent – processing plant agricultural products for commercial purposes – "rural industry" – separate uses or one integrated purpose Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), s 3.13 Hemp Industry Act 2008 (NSW), s 5 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW), s 56A, 57, 58 Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (NSW), Sch 3, cl 37A Hemp Industry Regulation 2016 (NSW), cl 10 Tweed Local Environmental Plan 2014 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 51.40 Cases Cited: Baulkham Hills Shire Council v O'Donnell (1990) 69 LGRA 404 Bronger v Greenway Health Centre Pty Ltd t/as Greenway Plaza Pharmacy [2023] NSWCA 104 Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Godolphin Australia Pty Ltd [2023] NSWCA 44 Costa v The Public Trustee of NSW [2008] NSWCA 223 Foodbarn Pty Ltd v Solicitor-General (1975) 32 LGRA 157 GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32; 97 ALJR 857 Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW (2018) 264 CLR 541; [2018] HCA 30 People for the Plains Inc v Santos NSW (Eastern) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 46 Singer v Berghouse (1994) 181 CLR 201; [1994] HCA 40 Toner Design Pty Ltd v Newcastle City Council [2013] NSWCA 410 Tweed Shire Council v Cooke (No 2) [2023] NSWLEC 98 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Proceedings 2023/253053 Dolph Cooke (Appellant) Tweed Shire Council (First Respondent) Darko Kovac (Second Respondent) (Submitting appearance) Peter Anthony Van Lieshout (Third Respondent) (Submitting appearance)