Deirdra Sutton and Patrick Cusack v Leichhardt Municipal Council [2006] NSWLEC 337

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Deirdra Sutton and Patrick Cusack v Leichhardt Municipal Council [2006] NSWLEC 337

APPLICANT Deirdra Sutton and Patrick Cusack PARTIES : RESPONDENT Leichhardt Municipal Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 11312 of 2005

CORAM: Tuor C

KEY ISSUES: Development Application :- Alterations and additions, impact on heritage significance of conservation area

LEGISLATION CITED: Leichhardt Local Environmental Plan 2000 State Environmental Planning Policy No 1

DATES OF HEARING: 31/05/2006

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 06/01/2006

APPLICANT Mr B T Goldsmith, town planner

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: RESPONDENT Mr G Green, solicitor SOLICITORS Pike Pike & Fenwick

JUDGMENT:

THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Tuor C

1 June 2006

11312 of 2005 Deirdra Sutton and Patrick Cusack v Leichhardt Municipal Council

JUDGMENT

1 Commissioner: This is an appeal against the refusal by Leichhardt Council (council) of a development application (D/2005/232) for alterations and additions at 24 Grafton Street, Balmain (the site). The site and its context 2 The site is part of a group of terraces on the northern side of Grafton Street, between Adolphus Street and Ewenton Street. It has a frontage of 6.09 m to Grafton Street and Ewenton Lane, a depth of 31.8 m and a site area of 193.7 sqm. 3 The site is developed with a single storey Victorian terrace with masonry walls and a steeply pitched corrugated roof. The house is similar to the adjoining house at 22 Grafton Street and the pair are the only houses with a single storey frontage in the block. 22 Grafton Street has been modified with a two storey addition at the rear, attics rooms in the roof and a dormer facing Grafton Street. Other houses in the block (28, 20 and 14B) have been altered from single to two storey. The other houses in the block were originally and still remain two storeys. 4 The terraces face an escarpment that drops down from Grafton Street to the White Bay Terminal. There are views from the street to the harbour. Planning framework 5 The site is zoned Residential under Leichhardt Local Environmental Plan 2000 (LEP 2000) and is within a conservation area. Under LEP 2000, consent must not be granted unless the relevant objectives of the plan have been considered. 6 Clause 15 provides heritage objectives: