Meriton v Sydney City Council [2004] NSWLEC 313

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Meriton v Sydney City Council [2004] NSWLEC 313 Applicant: Meriton Properties Management Pty Ltd and Karimbla Properties (No 3) Pty Ltd PARTIES : Respondent: Council of the City of Sydney FILE NUMBER(S) : 10193 of 2004 CORAM: Roseth SC Development Application :- Staged development KEY ISSUES: Impact on heritage Planning principle: protection of visual privacy LEGISLATION CITED: CASES CITED: DATES OF HEARING: 08/06/2004-10/06/2004 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 07/02/2004

Mr B Preston QC instructed by Ms J Hughes of Phillip Fox LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr M Craig QC instructed by Ms I Feguson of Maddocks Lawyers

JUDGMENT: IN THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES 10193 of 2004

Roseth SC

2 July 2004 Meriton Property Management Pty Ltd and Karimbla Properties (No 3) Pty Ltd Applicant

v

Sydney City Council Respondent Judgment

Introduction 1 This is an appeal against the refusal by Sydney City Council (the council) of a Stage 1 development application to demolish the existing buildings and receive approval for a building design envelope, a maximum Floor Space Ratio (FSR) and commercial, retail and residential and associated parking use of lot 1 DP 767757, lot 1 DP 767752 and lot 1 DP 77787, known as 420-426 Pitt Street and 36-38 Campbell Street, Sydney.

The site 2 The site is L-shaped, wrapping itself around the Chamberlain Hotel, which is at the corner of Pitt and Campbell Streets and is part of an item of heritage that includes four shops on the Pitt Street section of the site. It is common ground that, apart from these shops, the other existing buildings of the site are of no interest and may be demolished. The area of the site is 1,147m2. 3 To the south of the site is the abovementioned Chamberlain Hotel. To the north is a 30-storey apartment building, called Pitt Tower. One wall of this building is built on the boundary; others are reasonably close, including one corner 200mm away. The Pitt Tower has windows facing south over the site. The titles to the apartments that contain these windows include a positive covenant relating to these windows. The wording of the covenant lends itself to different interpretations.