Fowler and Anor v Canterbury City Council [2008] NSWLEC 1146

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Fowler and Anor v Canterbury City Council [2008] NSWLEC 1146

APPLICANT Bruce Fowler and Guo Lan Wang PARTIES : RESPONDENT Canterbury City Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10824 of 2007

CORAM: Brown C

KEY ISSUES: Development Application :- brothel - amenity impacts on residential area - parking

LEGISLATION CITED: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979

DATES OF HEARING: 8/11/07, 16/04/08

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 23 April 2008

APPLICANT Dr S Berveling, barrister SOLICITORS Russo & Company LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: RESPONDENT Mr A Simpson, solicitor SOLICITORS Pike Pike & Fenwick

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Brown C

23 April 2008

10824 of 2007 Bruce Fowler and Guo Lan Wang v Canterbury City Council

JUDGMENT 1 COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal against the refusal of Development Application DA-297/2007 by Canterbury City Council (the council) for the use of the premises at 269 Canterbury Rd, Canterbury (the site) as a brothel in conjunction with the existing approved use of the premises for a Chinese acupuncture and therapeutic massage establishment. 2 The proceedings were originally heard on 8 November 2007 when an inspection of the site was undertaken and a number of local residents and business operators provided their evidence. At this time the applicant raised a Question of Law that questioned whether development consent was required. This resulted in the proceedings being adjourned after the site view. The Question of Law was heard by Sheahan J on 4 March 2008 where consent orders were made including a declaration that the proposed use would fall within the definition of "identified development" as defined in the LEP. The consequence being that development consent was required for the proposed use.