Abdul-Rahman v Burwood Council [2016] NSWLEC 1053

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Abdul-Rahman v Burwood Council [2016] NSWLEC 1053 Hearing dates: 27 January 2016 Date of orders: 16 February 2016 Decision date: 16 February 2016 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Morris C Decision: Appeal upheld (see para 54 for modified Order) Catchwords: Orders, impact of unauthorised works on heritage conservation area Legislation Cited: Burwood Local Environmental Plan 2012 Texts Cited: Burwood Development Control Plan Category: Principal judgment Parties: Omar Abudul-Rahman (Applicant)

Burwood Council (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Ms A Spizzo Landerer and Company (Applicant) Mr S Shneider Houston Dearn O'Connor (Respondent) File Number(s): 10877 of 2015

Judgment 1. Burwood Council has issued an Order under the provisions of Section 121B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&AAct) to Mr Abdul-Rahman in relation to unauthorised building works on his land. He is appealing the provisions of that Order.

The site and its context 1. The site is legally described as Lot 2 in DP 950492 known as 2 Culdees Road, Burwood Heights. It is located on the eastern side of the road and has a frontage of 30.29m and site area of 1366 m². The site is occupied by a two storey dwelling with attached garage, workshop, loft, gardens and swimming pool.

Background 1. The Order the subject of this appeal was issued by the Council on 3 September 2015 and is in the following terms: Council orders you, pursuant to the said Act, to restore the premises to be condition they were before works were unlawfully carried out by: 1. Demolishing the laundry/bathroom addition to the rear of the existing garage; 2. Demolishing the skylight that was installed to the front elevation of dwelling and restoring to the original condition; 3. Demolishing the front sandstone fence located at the front boundary line; 4. Demolishing and restoring the driveway and hard stand surface area to original condition. 1. A period of 28 days was given for compliance with the Order. 2. The appeal against the Order was filed on 13 October 2015 and a conciliation conference held on 11 November 2015 presided over by another Commissioner of this Court. The conciliation conference was terminated on 16 December 2015. 3. On 19 November 2015 Mr Abdul-Rahman lodged a Building Certificate Application with the Council. That application related to the laundry, fence, hard stand and skylight. The Council, on 15 January 2016, issued a Building Certificate in relation to the laundry and skylight only. 4. On 25 November 2015 Mr Abdul-Rahman lodged a Development Application with the Council. That application sought consent for the use of the laundry and out building and use of the fence and skylight. Development consent was granted on 15 January 2016 by the Council to regularise the unauthorised addition of laundry and skylight to the existing dwelling only. 5. The parties agree that the council's action in relation to the grant of the building certificate and development consent for the laundry and skylight require revocation of that part of the Order that relates to those elements, that is, items 1 and 2 of the Order. 6. As the result of those decisions, the matter now before the Court relates to the front boundary fence and hard stand area.