Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Sipos v The Council of the City of Sydney [2018] NSWLEC 1092 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 17 January 2018 and 20 February 2018 Date of orders: 27 February 2018 Decision date: 27 February 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Brown C Decision: See (5) below Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: alterations and additions to an existing three storey commercial building; conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; orders Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Elizabeth Sipos (Applicant) The Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Ms Marcia Doheny, Allens (Applicant) Mr A Simpson, City of Sydney (Respondent) File Number(s): 2017/248174 Publication restriction: No Judgment 1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal against the refusal of development application No. D/2017/384 for alterations and additions to an existing three storey commercial building to include one additional floor at 68 Sophia Street, Surry Hills. 2. 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". 3. 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. 4. In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to make, and have not made, any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties. 5. The final orders to give effect to the parties' agreement under s34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are: 1. Leave is granted for the Applicant to rely on the amended plans referred to in condition 1(a) of the conditions of consent in Annexure A. 2. The appeal is upheld. 3. Development consent is granted to development application No. D/2017/384 for alterations and additions to an existing three storey commercial building to include one additional floor at 68 Sophia Street, Surry Hills, subject to the conditions of consent in Annexure A. 4. The Applicant is to pay the Respondents costs under s.97B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 as agreed or as assessed. ………………………. Graham Brown Commissioner of the Court Annexure A (91.6 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: 28 February 2018