Pinnacle Plus Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2019] NSWLEC 1162

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Pinnacle Plus Pty Ltd v Council of the City of Sydney [2019] NSWLEC 1162 Hearing dates: 5 April 2019 Date of orders: 05 April 2019 Decision date: 05 April 2019 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: O'Neill C Decision: See [22] below Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION: conciliation conference; agreement between the parties; multi-dwelling development; exceedance of the height of buildings development standard. Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 Cases Cited: Initial Action Pty Ltd v Woollahra Municipal Council [2018] NSWLEC 118 Wehbe v Pittwater Council (2007) 156 LGERA 446 Four2Five Pty Ltd v Ashfield Council [2015] NSWLEC 90 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Pinnacle Plus Pty Ltd (Applicant) Council of the City of Sydney (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: D Baird, Baird Lawyers A Singh, Council of the City of Sydney File Number(s): 2018/104601 Publication restriction: No

Judgment 1. COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal pursuant to the provisions of s 8.7(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) against the refusal of Development Application No. D/2017/1792 to demolish the existing building and construction of 10 x 3 storey self-contained terrace dwellings with basement carpark (the proposal) at 146-154 Lawrence Street, Alexandria (the site) by the Council of the City of Sydney (the Council). 2. The Court arranged a conciliation conference under s 34 of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (LEC Act) between the parties, which has been held on 5 April 2019. I presided over the conciliation conference. 3. At the conciliation conference, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties. The agreement of the parties was based on amendments made to the plans, including the following: * Deletion of trafficable roof top terrace; * Deletion of all balconies to Euston Lane; * The first and second floor volumes have been moved towards Euston Lane; * Increased separation between the two building volumes from 7m to 8.2m; * Reconfiguration of the basement; * Design changes and articulation to the Euston Lane façade and the volumes at the rear; * Amended schedule of finishes; * Amended waste management plan; * Increased landscaping; and * Changes to dwellings 5 and 6. 1. Under s 34(3) of the LEC Act, I must dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties' decision, if the parties' decision is a decision that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions. The parties' decision involves the Court exercising the function under s 4.16 of the EPA Act to grant consent to the development application. 2. There is a jurisdictional prerequisite that must be satisfied before this function can be exercised, pursuant to cl 4.6(2) of the Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 (LEP 2012).