Waters v Leichhardt Municipal Council [2] [2006] NSWLEC 31

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Waters v Leichhardt Municipal Council [2] [2006] NSWLEC 31

APPLICANT Peter W Waters PARTIES : RESPONDENT Leichhardt Municipal Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10167 of 2005

CORAM: Hoffman C

KEY ISSUES: Costs :- Court appointed expert's fees

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 LEGISLATION CITED: The Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Supreme Court Procedure (NSW)

DATES OF HEARING: 29-30/06/2005 and 02/11/2005

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 02/01/2006

APPLICANT Mr C Leggat, SC Instructed by: Mr C Shaw, solicitor Of: Shaw Reynolds LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: RESPONDENT Mr G Green, solicitor SOLICITORS Pike Pike & Fenwick

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Hoffman C

1 February 2006

10167 of 2005 Peter W Waters v Leichhardt Municipal Council

JUDGMENT 1 This was a Class 1 Appeal No. 10167 of 2005 between Waters and Leichhardt Municipal Council. Findings were published on the 30th June 2005 and after amended plans were produced and considered at the 2nd November 2005, final judgment was handed down on 24th January 2006.

2 The parties had contested costs and that is the subject of this decision. The disagreement on costs is related to the fees billed by the Court-appointed expert Mr Dickson.

3 The Acting Chief Judge his Honour Justice Talbot delegated power for me to deal with the fixing of a Court-appointed experts fees under the Supreme Court Rules Pt 39 and The Land and Environment Court Rules at the time being Pt 13 Div 2 r 2 (2). 4 The applicant submitted that the initial indication of fees partly on which the parties nomination of Mr Dickson was based, foreshadowed $5,000 to $7,000 in fees for reports plus appearance in Court of approximately $1,300. The amounts billed by Mr Dickson approached $20,000.