O'Keefe v Water Administration Ministerial Corporation [2010] NSWLEC 9

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : O'Keefe v Water Administration Ministerial Corporation [2010] NSWLEC 9

David Daniel O'Keefe (First Applicant) Kathryn Michelle O'Keefe (Second Applicant) PARTIES : Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (First Respondent) Peter Bryan Eccleston (Second Respondent) Lucy Finette Taylor Eccleston (Third Respondent)

FILE NUMBER(S) : 30531 of 2009

CORAM: Lloyd J

APPEAL :- hearing de novo - water management - appeal by objectors against findings of local land board - licence to take and use water - whether decision to grant water licence beyond power

KEY ISSUES: WATER: - access to and use of water - registered easement for water and electricity supply - capacity of the owners of dominant tenement to apply for water licence - statutory framework - basic landholder rights - application of harvestable rights order - merit considerations

WORDS AND PHRASES: - "river" - "intermittent" - "natural channel artificially improved" - "artificial channel which has changed the course of the stream" - "confluent" - "occupier"

LEGISLATION CITED: Water Act 1912 s 5, s 10, s 13A Water Management Act 2000 Ch 3 Pt 2, s 52, s 53, s 54, s 55, s 59, s 88A, s 392, s 393, s 401, Sch 7

Eccleston v O'Keefe [2007] NSWSC 159 Elders Rural Finance Ltd v Westpac Banking Corporation (1989) 6 BPR 13,439 Gorczynski v Perera [2004] NSWCA 70; (2004) 132 LGERA 341 J & J O'Brien v South Sydney City Council [2002] NSWLEC 126; (2002) 121 LGERA 203 CASES CITED: Lockwood v the Commonwealth (1953) 90 CLR 177 Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning v Rosemount Estates Pty Ltd (1996) 91 LGERA 31 Newcrest Mining (WA) Ltd v The Commonwealth (1997) 190 CLR 513 VAW (Kurri Kurri) Pty Ltd v Scientific Committee [2003] NSWCA 297; (2003) 58 NSWLR 631 Water Administration Ministerial Corporation: In re an Application by McClure (1995) 88 LGERA 278