Council of the City of Ryde v Azizi [2019] NSWSC 1605

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the City of Ryde v Azizi [2019] NSWSC 1605 Hearing dates: 30 September 2019, 1 October 2019 Date of orders: 20 November 2019 Decision date: 20 November 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Payne J Decision: (1) A declaration that the Determinations of Compensation made by the Third Defendant (Valuer General's reference VVGC.JT02800 dated 21 December 2018 and Valuer General's reference VVGC.JT02799 dated 21 December 2018) ("the Determinations") purportedly pursuant to the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 (NSW) ("the Act") and in relation to the Plaintiff's compulsory acquisition of land identified as Lot C in Deposited Plan 410408 (known as 86 Blenheim Street, North Ryde) and Lot D and Lot E in Deposited Plan 410408 (known as 12A and 14 Epping Road, North Ryde) ("the Acquired Land") from the First and Second Defendants ("the Acquisition"), respectively, are void and of no effect; (2) Order that the Third Defendant determine compensation in relation to the Acquisition in accordance with the Act; (3) Order the Plaintiff to pay 30 per cent of the costs of the First and Second Defendants; (4) No order as to costs between the Plaintiff and the Third Defendant. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – jurisdictional error – judicial review of Determinations of Compensation issued by the Valuer-General under s 47 of the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 (NSW) – whether the Determinations with respect to underlying zoning and development standards lacked probative evidence and were legally unreasonable – whether the Determinations with respect to the comparable sales method of valuation were legally unreasonable – not legally unreasonable – impermissible merits review – no jurisdictional error