Bowen v Woollahra Council [2008] NSWLEC 1320

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Bowen v Woollahra Council [2008] NSWLEC 1320

Applicant: Peter Michael Bowen PARTIES : Respondent: Woollahra Municipal Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10258 of 2008

CORAM: Roseth SC

KEY ISSUES: Development Application :- demolition of listed local heritage item

DATES OF HEARING: 24 July 2008 and 25 July 2008

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 7 August 2008

Applicant: LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr G Newport, barrister instructed by Mr P Pilton, solicitor of Hicksons Lawyers Respondent: Mr S Simington, solicitor of Lindsay Taylor Lawyers

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Roseth SC

7 August 2008

10258 of 2008 Peter Michael Bowen v Woollahra Municipal Council

JUDGMENT 1 Senior Commissioner: This is an appeal against the refusal by Woollahra Municipal Council (the council) of a development application to demolish the existing heritage-listed building and construct a new residential flat building on lot 1 DP 87937, known as 22 Fairfax Road, Bellevue Hill.

The site 2 The site is located on the north side of Fairfax Road. The existing two-apartment building on the site is called Chislehurst, though originally it was a single house named St Kieran's. The property is listed as an item of local heritage. Fairfax Road has a mixture of houses and apartment buildings dating from the early 1900s to the present.

The proposal 3 The applicant proposes to demolish the existing heritage-listed building and construct a residential flat building. While the council has no objections to the new building, it opposes the demolition of the existing building on the basis of its heritage significance.