Benedict Industries Pty Ltd v Environment Protection Authority [2016] NSWLEC 1377

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Benedict Industries Pty Ltd v Environment Protection Authority [2016] NSWLEC 1377 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 26 August Date of orders: 26 August 2016 Decision date: 26 August 2016 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Dixon C Decision: See (4) below Catchwords: APPEAL: conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Benedict Industries Pty Ltd (Applicant) Environment Protection Authority (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Clifford Ireland (Applicant) Scott Nash (Respondent)

Solicitors: Minter Ellison (Applicant) Office of Environment & Heritage (Respondent) File Number(s): 2016/00163145 Publication restriction: No

Judgment 1. COMMISSIONER: In this matter, at or after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act). As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to "dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the decision". 2. The Court Act also required me to "set out in writing the terms of the decision" (s 34(3)(b)). The orders made to give effect to the agreement constitute that document. 3. In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to, and have not, made any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties. 4. The final orders to give effect to the parties' agreement under s34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are: 1. Environment Protection Licence No. 1924 is varied in accordance with the Respondent's Licence variation Notice 1527854 dated 29 April 2016, as amended in accordance with Annexure "A" to these Orders. 2. Appeal otherwise dismissed. 3. Each party to pay their own costs of these proceedings. ……………. Susan Dixon Commissioner 163145.16 - Annexure A (8.66 KB, pdf) 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: 31 August 2016