Volf v Woollahra Council [2014] NSWLEC 81

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Volf v Woollahra Council [2014] NSWLEC 81 Hearing dates: 20 June 2014 Decision date: 20 June 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Biscoe J Decision: (1) The following question be heard and determined first and before any other question in the proceedings: Whether, on a proper construction of the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995, and in particular of clauses 9(4) and (10), the council (and the Court) has the power to grant development consent for the subdivision (which the parties agree is not a subdivision under the Strata Titles Act 1973) of an approved but as yet unconstructed dual occupancy as proposed in DA138/2014. (2) The matter is referred to the Registrar forthwith for the purpose of fixing a date for the hearing of the separate question before a judge of the Court and directions for preparation of the matter. Catchwords: SEPARATE QUESTION - whether power to grant development consent for a proposed development should be determined as a preliminary question. Legislation Cited: Strata Titles Act 1973 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 r 28.2 Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 cll 9(4), 10 Category: Separate question Parties: Zev Volf (Applicant) Woollahra Council (Respondent) Representation: COUNSEL: J McKelvey (Applicant) K Webber, solicitors SOLICITORS: Newhouse Lawyers (Applicant) Wilshire Webb Staunton Beattie (Respondent) File Number(s): 10361/14