Abrams v The Council of the City of Sydney [2018] NSWLEC 1648

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Abrams v The Council of the City of Sydney [2018] NSWLEC 1648 Hearing dates: 13 November 2018 Date of orders: 17 December 2018 Decision date: 17 December 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Dickson C Decision: The Court orders that: (1) The applicant is granted leave to rely on the plans contained in Exhibit B in the proceedings; (2) The applicant is to pay the Respondents costs thrown away as a result of amending the development application pursuant to s 8.15(3) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 as may be agreed or assessed; (3) The appeal is dismissed; (4) Development Application No. D/2017/1809 for demolition of the existing commercial building on the site and construction of a new four storey residential flat building containing 14 units and associated bicycle parking and waste storage is refused; (5) The exhibits are returned with the exception of Exhibits A, C, and 1. Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPEAL: New residential flat building – variation to floor space ratio control – whether the variation request is well founded – whether the objectives of the controls are met – purpose of objective to regulate density – sufficiency of environmental planning grounds. Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 State Environmental Planning Policy (Building Sustainability Index: BASIX) 2004 State Environmental Planning Policy No 55—Remediation of Land State Environmental Planning Policy No 65—Design Quality of Residential Apartment Development Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 Cases Cited: Abrams v The Council of the City of Sydney [2017] NSWLEC 1371 Abrams v The Council of the City of Sydney (No 2) [2018] NSWLEC 85 Addenbrooke Pty Ltd v Woollahra Municipal Council [2008] NSWLEC 190 Futurespace Pty Ltd v Ku-ring-gai Council (2009) 169 LGERA 153 Four2Five Pty Ltd v Ashfield Council [2015] NSWCA 248 Goldin and Anor v Minister for Transport [2002] NSWLEC 75. Initial Action Pty Ltd v Woollahra Municipal Council [2018] NSWLEC 118 Wehbe v Pittwater Council (2007) 156 LGERA 446 Texts Cited: Apartment Design Guide Development Guidelines: Providing Community Infrastructure in Green Square Sydney Development Control Plan Category: Principal judgment Parties: Gary Abrams (Applicant) The Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: S Duggan SC (Applicant) J Reid (Respondent)