Davis v Gosford City Council [2007] NSWLEC 795

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Davis v Gosford City Council [2007] NSWLEC 795 This decision has been amended. Please see the end of the judgment for a list of the amendments.

Applicant: Raymond John Davis and Susanne Margaret Davis PARTIES : Respondent: Gosford City Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10121 of 2007

CORAM: Roseth SC

KEY ISSUES: Designated Development - Development Application - Ecologically Sustainable Development - Environmental Impact Statement :- adequacy of Species Impact Statement

DATES OF HEARING: 19/11/2007 and 20/11/2007

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 4 December 2007

Applicant: LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr J Maston, barrister instructed by Mr M Flaherty, solicitor of Robert King & Associates Respondent: Mr M Fraser, barrister instructed by Mr P Donnellan, solicitor of PJ Donellan & Co

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Roseth SC

4 December 2007

10121 of 2007 Raymond John Davis and Susanne Margaret Davis v Gosford City Council

JUDGMENT 1 Senior Commissioner: This is an appeal against the refusal by Gosford City Council (the council) of a development application to establish a waste recycling facility on lot 9 DP 787857 Somersby Falls Road, Somersby.

The site 2 The site is in the northeast part of the Somersby Industrial Area. It has an area of 11 hectares. Its western boundary is behind small industrial allotments fronting Somersby Falls Road; however, it has a 30m wide "access handle" to that road. Its southern boundary has access to an unformed part of Somersby Falls Road. The site is heavily treed and there are signs of the bushfire that raged through it on New Year's Day 2006. 3 The site is towards the northern end of the industrial area where the industrial zoning gives way to agricultural zoning. The nearest house is about 120m from the northern boundary.