VANMELD PTY LTD v FAIRFIELD CITY COUNCIL [1992] NSWCA 261

VANMELD PTY LTD v FAIRFIELD CITY COUNCIL

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KirBY P, HANDLEY and SHELLER JJA 12 March 1992, 4 June 1992 [1992] NSWCA 261

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW — local government — caravan park regulation — requirement to apply for annual licence — owner of established caravan park with existing use rights applies for licence — licence refused — refusal not related to matters personal lo applicant or relevant to facilities of the caravan park — refusal on ground of propensity of land to be flooded — whether a proper reason within the contemplation of the law to ground refusal of annual licence — Held: (Handley JA, Sheller JA concurring; Kirby P dissenting): Upon a true construction of the legislation and its purposes, the ground was relevant to the exercise of the licence granting power and such exercise was lawful — Municipal Council of Sydney v Campbell 1925 AC 338 (PC); Eaton and Sons Pty Ltd v The Council of the Shire of Warringah (1972) 129 CLR 270; R v Toohey (Aboriginal Land Commissioner!: ex parte Northern Land Council (1981) 151 CLR 170 considered. LOCAL GOVERNMENT — caravan park regulation — provision made for licensing of occupiers — provision to refuse to grant licence for "sufficient reasons" — established caravan park with existing use rights made subject to supervening laws for regulation of caravan parks — application for annual licence — licence refused on ground that land prone to flooding — whether generality of power to refuse licence should be confined to non planning matters relevant to an annual licensee and the facilities provided in such a park: (By Handley JA, Sheller JA concurring; Kirby P dissenting): The general statutory discretion should not be read down and it provided a proper basis for refusal of the licence in the circumstances. The Queen v The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal: ex parte 2HD Pty Ltd (1979) 144 CLR 45 applied.