Ma v Warringah Council [2011] NSWLEC 1077

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ma v Warringah Council [2011] NSWLEC 1077 Hearing dates: 22 February 2011 Decision date: 11 March 2011 Before: Hussey C Decision: The appeal is dismissed. Development consent for works to permit the use of the dwelling at 64B Beacon Hill Road Brookvale to be used as a boarding house is refused. The exhibits may be returned except for 1, 2 A and C. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION; Change of use to boarding house, site suitability, retaining walls details, fire safety, accessibility, amenity, public interest Legislation Cited: EP& A Act 1979 SEPP (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 Cases Cited: GPT RE Limited v Wollongong City council and Anor (No.4) [2008] NSWLEC 28 (29 January 2008) Category: Principal judgment Parties: APPLICANT Mr Wenhong Ma RESPONDENT Warringah Council Representation: APPLICANT Mr W Ma (In person) RESPONDENT Mr A Hudson (Solicitor) File Number(s): 10749 of 2010

Judgment

Background 1This appeal was lodged against council's refusal of a development application proposing certain works to enable the change of use of a dwelling house at 64B Beacon Hill Road Brookvale to a boarding house with 10 double bedrooms and ancillary rooms. 2The dwelling house was approved in 2002. Subsequently a number of actions were taken because of concerns about unauthorised works and noncompliances with the conditions of consent. 3Whilst the dwelling house could now be conditioned to comply with many of the requirements of the SEPP (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009, council contends that there are circumstances whereby the site is unsuitable for the proposed development. These circumstances arise due to a number of uncertainties with the current condition of the dwelling and the failure of the applicant to provide adequate responses to these concerns. 4A number of contentions were identified, which are summarised as follows: * Adequacy of plans; * Fire safety, in terms of compliance with the BCA requirements for a Class 3 building; * Bushfire risk; * Internal amenity and safety concerns; * Retaining walls adequacy; * Unauthorised landfill; * Stormwater disposal; * Plan of Management; * Waste disposal arrangements; * Public interest, including privacy objections and traffic concerns.