COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SYDNEY v GARBETT PTY LTD and ANOR [1996] NSWCA 126

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SYDNEY v GARBETT PTY LTD and ANOR

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

KIRBY P, PRIESTLEY and HANDLEY JJA 24 August 1995, 1 February 1996

[1996] NSWCA 126

COSTS — Land and Environment Court dispute between ratepayer and local government authority concerning liability for rates — proper approach to costs — held: Costs should follow the event.

COSTS — Land and Environment Court — dispute between ratepayer and local government authority concerning liability for rates — whether costs should follow the event — whether no order for costs should be made — relevant practice of Land and Environment Court — held: No reason is shown as to why costs should not follow the event — costs so ordered — other orders made following reference of proceedings back to Court of Appeal. See Sydney City Council v Garbett Pty Ltd (1995) 69 ALJR 616 (HC).

ORDERS As contained in the reasons of the Court. Liberty to apply for purposes only of formal clarification or correction.

Kirby P, Priestley and Handley JJA Following the decision of the High Court (Sydney City Council v Garbett Pty Ltd (1995) 69 ALJR 616), these matters again came before this court, where the parties were able to reach a considerable degree of agreement on the appropriate orders.

The only matter of substance eventually not agreed was whether this court should make orders for costs of the proceedings in the Land and Environment Court, and if so, what orders.

The saving of time and expense led this court to think it should make the orders.

The contest then remaining was whether the costs in question should follow what, as the successive appeals eventually showed, should have been the event in the Land and Environment Court, or whether no order for costs of those proceedings should be made. The latter orders were said to be in accord with the practice of the Land and Environment Court. However, so far as we are aware, the only practice of this kind which is in any formal sense established is confined to planning and building appeals: cf Maclean Shire Council v Nungera Co-operative Society Ltd (1994) 84 LGERA 139 (CA).