Al-Faisal College Limited v Campbelltown City Council [2015] NSWLEC 1083

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Al-Faisal College Limited v Campbelltown City Council [2015] NSWLEC 1083 Hearing dates: 12-13 March 2015 Decision date: 07 April 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Morris C Decision: Appeal upheld Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: school; increase in number of enrolments; traffic, parking, safety and amenity impacts; zone objectives; objectives of development control plan; site suitability Legislation Cited: Campbelltown (Urban Area) Local Environmental Plan 2002; State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure) 2007 Texts Cited: Campbelltown (Sustainable City) Development Control Plan 2014; The Educational Facilities Standards and Guidelines. Category: Principal judgment Parties: Al-Faisal College Limited (Applicant)

Campbelltown City Council (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr A Galasso SC (Applicant)

Solicitors: Mr A Whealy, Gadens (Applicant) Mr A Seton, Marsdens Law Group (Respondent) File Number(s): 10849 of 2014

Judgment 1. Al-Faisal Limited currently own and operate a school at 10 Benham Road, Minto. The consent under which the school operates was originally approved by Campbelltown City Council in 2005 and authorised the conversion of existing squash courts to an educational establishment. A subsequent consent granted in 2009 authorised additions and alterations and increase the number of students from 150 to 250. 2. Al-Faisal lodged DA499/2014/DA-C with the council on 7 March 2014 seeking consent to increase the approved student numbers to 700. During the course of assessment, the applicant amended the application to revise the student population down to a maximum of 600 students. 3. An appeal against the council's deemed refusal of the application was filed on 10 October 2014. The council subsequently refused consent despite its staff recommending approval, and its reasons for refusal form the contentions in the case.