Kinder Palace Pty Ltd v The Hills Shire Council [2013] NSWLEC 1182

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Kinder Palace Pty Ltd v The Hills Shire Council [2013] NSWLEC 1182 Hearing dates: 26 September 2013 Decision date: 27 September 2013 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Tuor C Decision: 1. The appeal is upheld. 2. The development application for a childcare centre at 294 North Rocks Road, North Rocks, is approved subject to the conditions in Annexure A. 3. The exhibits, except Exhibits 1, A, B, D and E, may be returned. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION - Childcare centre Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Baulkham Hills Local Environmental Plan 2005 The Hills Local Environmental Plan 2012 Cases Cited: Blackmore Design Group v North Sydney Council (2001) NSWLEC 27 Maygood Australia Pty Ltd v Willoughby City Council [2013] NSWLEC 142 Terrace Tower Holdings Pty Ltd v Sutherland Shire Council (2003) NSWCA 289 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Kinder Palace Pty Ltd (Applicant) The Hills Shire Council (Respondent) Representation: Mr A Whealy of Gadens Lawyers (Applicant) Ms J Mort of The Hills Shire Council (Respondent) File Number(s): 10134 of 2013

Judgment 1This is an appeal under s 97(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) against the refusal by The Hills Shire Council (council) of a development application (DA 581/2012/HA) for a 40 place childcare centre at 294 North Rocks Road, North Rocks (site). 2The Amended Statement of Facts and Contentions stated that the application should be refused due to inadequate vehicle access and parking layout (Contention 3), acoustic impact from the internal areas (Contention 4) and that the proposal is not in the public interest as it does not meet the objectives for the zone in Baulkham Hills Local Environmental Plan 2005 (LEP 2005) and The Hills Local Environmental Plan 2012 (LEP 2012) (Contention 5). These contentions have been resolved through amendments to the plans, the proposed conditions of consent and the agreement of the experts.