Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Lane Cove Council v Orca Partners Management Pty Ltd [2014] NSWLEC 162 Hearing dates: 3 October 2014 Decision date: 03 October 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 4 Before: Biscoe J Decision: (1) Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828 be joined as a respondent in these proceedings. (2) Orca Partners Pty Ltd ACN 118 154 751 be joined as a respondent in these proceedings. (3) The exhibit is to be returned forthwith to Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - joinder of parties. Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 rr 6.24, 59.3 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Lane Cove Council (Applicant) Orca Partners Management Pty Ltd ACN 096 175 567 (First Respondent) Sydney East Region Joint Planning Panel (Second respondent) Michael Keith Van Twest (Third Respondent) Peter John Baum (Fourth Respondent) Xiao Man Wang and Ngai Wong (Fifth Respondents) Quingsheng Zhou and Yueming Li (Sixth Respondents) Joseph Stanley and Pamela Joan Stanley (Seventh Respondents) Michael Peter Hone and Una Isabel McCathie (Eighth Respondents) John De Vere Tyrrell (Ninth Respondent) Ursula Regina Lydia Mooser and Heinrich Walter Mooser (Tenth Respondents) Alice Lai Ping So (Eleventh Respondent) Jim Spanos and Toula Spanos (Twelfth Respondents) Christine Carberry (Thirteenth Respondent) Heidi Sung Man Wong (Fourteenth Respondent) John Martin McNamara and Judith Anne McNamara (Fifteenth Respondents) Rosena May Sampson (Sixteenth Respondent) Andrew De Vere Tyrell (Seventeenth Respondent) David John Haugh and Rosanne Haugh (Eighteenth Respondents) John William Davis and Janice Mary Davis (Nineteenth Respondents) Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828 (Intervenor) Orca Partners Pty Ltd ACN 118 154 751 (Intervenor) Representation: COUNSEL: D R Baird, solicitor (Applicant) D Slimnicanovski, solicitor (First Respondent) A Gadiel, solicitor (First Respondent; Orca Partners Pty Ltd ACN 118 154 751) L Sims, solicitor (Second Respondent) Submitting appearance (Third-Nineteenth Respondents) P Tomasetti and J Johnson (Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828) SOLICITORS: Marsdens Law Group (Applicant) Gadens (First Respondent; Orca Partners Pty Ltd ACN 118 154 751) Department of Planning & Environment (Second Respondent) Patrick Grimes & Co (Third-Nineteenth Respondents) CKSD Lawyers (Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828) File Number(s): 40694/14 EX TEMPORE Judgment 1In these judicial review proceedings an intervenor, Yifang Australia Pty Ltd (Yifang), moves for orders that Yifang and Orca Partners Pty Ltd (Orca Partners) be joined as respondents. Orca Partners is separately represented as an intervenor and consents. Lane Cove Council is the applicant in the proceedings and challenges the decision of the second respondent, Sydney East Joint Regional Planning Panel, to grant consent to development application DA 13/194 for land at 2-22 Birdwood Avenue and 11-15 Finlayson Street, Lane Cove. An agent for the first respondent, Orca Partners Management Pty Ltd (a different entity from Orca Partners), lodged the development application. The other respondents are owners of the properties the subject of the development consent. 2The basis of the motion is a document titled "Agreement to Assign Option Deed" dated 17 July 2014 between Orca Partners and Yifang, in which the former agreed to assign to the latter rights it had acquired to purchase the properties the subject of the development consent. The agreement contains clauses protecting confidential information of the parties to the agreement. Yifang asks that, if the Court requires disclosure of the agreement to the Court (which I do), it be kept confidential to the legal advisors to the parties to the proceedings. That seems reasonable at this stage. However, at the moment the parties do not seek access to the agreement, which Yifang has tendered as an exhibit on this motion. I will have that exhibit returned to Yifang at the conclusion of this judgment. 3Pursuant to the agreement, Yifang has paid a substantial deposit and a substantial further instalment to Orca Partners. The agreement indicates an intention that by 15 April 2015 Yifang will become the holder of an option over the land, the subject of the development consent, and be entitled to rely on it. 4If the development consent is declared void, this will significantly affect the rights of Yifang and Orca Partners. In my opinion, they are parties who are interested in maintaining the decision and who may be directly affected by the relief sought in these proceedings. Consequently, it is appropriate that pursuant to the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 rr 6.24 and 59.3, that they be joined as respondents to the proceedings. 5The orders of the Court are: (1)Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828 be joined as a respondent in these proceedings. (2)Orca Partners Pty Ltd ACN 118 154 751 be joined as a respondent in these proceedings. (3)The exhibit is to be returned forthwith to Yifang Australia Pty Ltd ACN 164 674 828. DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated. Decision last updated: 07 October 2014