Warehouse v Sydney City Council [2007] NSWLEC 25

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Warehouse v Sydney City Council [2007] NSWLEC 25

Applicant: The Warehouse Pty Ltd and Reachdaze Pty Ltd PARTIES : Respondent: Sydney City Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 11503 of 2005

CORAM: Roseth SC

KEY ISSUES: Development Application :-

DATES OF HEARING: 18/10/2006, 19/10/2006, 20/10/2006, 23/10/2006, 24/10/2006, 27/10/2006, 08/11/2006, 20/12/2006, 09/02/2007 and 16/02/2007

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 20 February 2007

Applicant: LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr M Craig QC with Mr A Galasso, barrister instructed by Mr M Causer, solictor of Mallesons Stephen Jaques Respondent: Mr B McClintock SC instructed by Ms P Adreskelas, solicitor of Maddocks Lawyers

JUDGMENT:

THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Roseth SC

20 February 2007

11503 of 2005 The Warehouse Pty Ltd and Reachdaze Pty Ltd v Sydney City Council

JUDGMENT 1 Senior Commissioner: This is an appeal against the refusal by the Sydney City Council (the council) of a staged development application to demolish the existing structures on the site and to create a mixed-use development on an amalgamated site consisting of 1-5 Link Road, 947 South Dowling Street, 132 Epsom Road (the "Northern site") and 87-103 Epsom Road, Rosebery (the "Southern site").

The site 2 Epsom Road divides the amalgamated site. The Northern site's boundaries are Epsom Road to the south, Southern Cross Drive to the east and Link Road to the northwest. It is rectangular in shape and has an area of 11,366m2. A variety of uses now occupy it, including Mitsubishi and Kia car dealerships (1-5 Link Road), a motor repair centre (947 South Dowling Street), and Dolina manufacturing and warehousing (132 Epsom Road). 3 The Southern site is known as 87-103 Epsom Road, Rosebery. It is rectangular in shape and its boundaries are the Southern Cross Drive to the east, Epsom Road to the north, Kimberly Grove to the south and a warehouse and office complex to the west. It has an area of 31,890m2. A warehouse, principally used as self-storage, now occupies it. 4 To the north of the Northern site is Victoria Park, which, despite its name, is not a park but a medium to high-density housing estate in the process of development. On the eastern side of Southern Cross Drive, which adjoins both portions of the site to the east, is the Australian Golf Club and low-density housing within the Randwick municipality. To the south of the Southern site is an area of medium to high-density housing with four and eight-storey apartment blocks. Beyond these is lower-density housing. 5 To the west of the Southern site is a new warehouse and office complex that extends to the intersection of Epsom Road and Dalmeny Avenue. To the west of the Northern site are two motor showrooms (Audi and Sutton-Holden). Further to the west is a mixture of small to medium scale industrial and commercial buildings.