Metro Donnelly Road Pty Ltd v Willoughby City Council [2024] NSWLEC 1736

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Metro Donnelly Road Pty Ltd v Willoughby City Council [2024] NSWLEC 1736 Hearing dates: 26-28 August 2024, final submissions 9 October 2024 Date of orders: 15 November 2024 Decision date: 15 November 2024 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Walsh C Decision: The Court orders that: (1) The appeal is dismissed. (2) DA-2021/340, for a mixed use development at 43 Donnelly Road, Naremburn is determined by way of refusal. (3) The exhibits are returned except for Exhibits 1, A-E, which are retained. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION – mixed use development – multi dwelling housing – demolition of part of local heritage item – consideration of heritage significance of item – consideration of effect on heritage significance – balancing positive aspects of the proposal including providing for housing needs – adaptive re-use consideration – breaches of development control provisions relating to multi dwelling housing Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, ss 8.7, 8.15 Heritage Act 1977, s 25 Willoughby Local Environmental Plan 2012, cll 4.5, 5.10, Sch 5 Willoughby Local Environmental Plan 2012 (Amendment No 38) Cases Cited: The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Broken Bay v Willoughby City Council [2024] NSWLEC 101 Texts Cited: Apartment Design Guidelines 2015 Australia ICOMOS, The Burra Charter: The Australian ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013 Environment and Heritage Group, Department of Planning and Environment, Assessing Heritage Significance: Guidelines for assessing places and objects against the Heritage Council of NSW criteria, (May 2023) NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Low Rise Housing Diversity Design Guide (July 2020) Willoughby Development Control Plan 2023 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Metro Donnelly Road Pty Ltd (Applicant) Willoughby City Council (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: I Hemmings SC (Applicant) T To (Respondent)