Cracknell & Lonergan Architects Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2016] NSWLEC 1159

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Cracknell & Lonergan Architects Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2016] NSWLEC 1159 Hearing dates: 31 March, 2016 Date of orders: 03 May 2016 Decision date: 03 May 2016 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: O'Neill C Decision: 1. The appeal is dismissed. 2. Development Application No. D/2015/870 for alterations and additions to an existing building, including a new third level, use as 12 serviced apartments and a ground floor commercial tenancy, is refused. 3. The exhibits, other than exhibits 2, A and F, are returned. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: alterations and additions to a contributory building in a heritage conservation area; exceedance of the floor space ratio development standard. Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Cracknell & Lonergan Architects Pty Ltd (Applicant) Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr J. Palmer solicitor (Applicant) Dr S. Berveling barrister (Respondent)

Solicitors: Pike & Verekers Lawyers (Applicant) Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) File Number(s): 10781 of 2015

Judgment 1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to the provisions of s 97 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) against the refusal of Development Application No. D/2015/870 for alterations and additions to an existing building including a new third level, use of the building for 12 serviced apartments and a ground floor commercial tenancy and associated signage (the proposal) at 461 Harris Street, Ultimo (the site) by the Council of the City of Sydney (the Council). 2. The appeal was subject to mandatory conciliation on 23 November 2015, in accordance with the provisions of s 34 of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act). As agreement was not reached during the conciliation phase, the conciliation conference was terminated on 21 December 2015, pursuant to s 34(4) of the LEC Act. The proposal was amended following the termination of the conciliation conference and leave was granted by the Court on 3 February 2016 for the applicant to rely on the amended proposal.