Rummery v Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage [2014] NSWCCA 106

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Rummery v Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage [2014] NSWCCA 106 Hearing dates: 10 February 2014 Decision date: 18 June 2014 Before: Ward JA at [1] Johnson J at [199] R S Hulme AJ at [200] Decision: 1. Appeal from conviction dismissed. 2. Appeal from sentence allowed. 3. Order 2 of the orders made by primary judge on 20 December 2012 be varied to substitute for "80,040" the sum of "66,000". Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - appeal and new trial - appeal against conviction - appellant pleaded guilty - whether miscarriage of justice in circumstances where guilty plea related only to clearing in limited area - where appellant contends that prosecution for part or all of clearing may have been statute barred

CRIMINAL LAW - appeal and new trial - admission of new evidence - whether evidence "fresh" - whether denial of procedural fairness arising from manner in which response to notices for production of documents was made

CRIMINAL LAW - offence under the Native Vegetation Act 2003 - clearing native vegetation otherwise than in accordance with a development consent or a property vegetation plan - appeal on grounds that prosecution failed to establish that cleared vegetation was not "regrowth" within meaning of section 9 of the Act or and/or had failed to prove matters such as the number and species of trees cleared - whether prosecutor had established presence of endangered ecological community

CRIMINAL LAW - offence under the Native Vegetation Act 2003 - whether clearing permitted under exceptions for routine agricultural management activities within meaning of section 11 of the Act