Bettar v Council of the City of Sydney [2014] NSWLEC 1070

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bettar v Council of the City of Sydney [2014] NSWLEC 1070 Hearing dates: 8 April 2014 Decision date: 17 April 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: O'Neill C Decision: 1. The appeal is upheld. 2. Development Application No. D/2013/1336 for the retention of existing townhouses on the site, demolition of the existing hotel building and construction of a four and five storey residential flat building is approved, subject to the conditions of consent at Annexure A. 3. The exhibits, other than exhibits 1 and A, are returned. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: construction of a residential flat building; height; internal amenity; whether the development represents a high standard of architectural design Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mr Paul Bettar (Applicant) Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) Representation: Ms S. Duggan SC (Applicant) Ms F. Berglund Barrister (Respondent) Conomos Legal (Applicant) Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) File Number(s): 10803 of 2013

Judgment 1COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to the provisions of s 97 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 against the refusal of Development Application No. D/2013/1336 for a four and five storey residential flat building and the retention of existing townhouses at 4 Boundary Street, Alexandria (the site) by the Council of the City of Sydney (the Council). 2The appeal was subject to mandatory conciliation on 17 December 2013, in accordance with the provisions of s34 of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act). As no agreement was reached during the conciliation phase, the conciliation conference was terminated on 20 January, 2014, pursuant to s 34(4) of the LEC Act. 3On 11 February, 2014, the Court granted leave to the applicant to rely upon amended plans. The plans were further amended following the joint conferencing of the urban design and planning experts and leave was granted by the Court for the applicant to rely on the amended plans on the basis agreed by the parties, pursuant to s 97B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (the proposal).