2014 News

Practice Note - Subpoena Practices

18 December 2014

The Land and Environment Court has published a new Practice Note - Subpoena Practices. The Practice Note will commence on 2 January 2015.

The purpose of this practice note is to inform parties and the producing person of new procedures and practices in the Land and Environment Court in relation to:
(i) the ability to nominate a convenient return date on the subpoena before filing the subpoena;
(ii) the Court’s default access orders;
(iii) changes to the operation of the return of subpoena list;
(iv) the Court’s preferred practice in relation to the format of documents being produced in response to a subpoena;
(v) the Court’s practice in relation to accessing subpoenaed material produced in an electronic format;
(vi) the Court’s practice in relation to the production of bulky material; and
(vii) the Court’s practice in returning exhibits and subpoenaed material.

The new procedures are similar to the procedure used in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Valuer General Policies

18 December 2014

On 4 September 2014 , we advised that the Valuer General had commenced publishing policies for the land valuation system. A further 15 policies have now been released. A link to all of the Valuer General's policies is available on the Helpful materials page for valuation objection appeals

2013 Annual Review

12 December 2014

The Court's 2013 Annual Review has now been published and is available online. The review provides an overview of the Court and reports on the Court's achievements in 2013, including how the Court has performed against key performance indicators.

Planning principles remain relevant

9 December 2014

In Doolan v Strathfield Municipal Council[2014] NSWLEC 1212, Brown C set out at (70) that the Commissioners have considered, through the collegiate system used within the Court for the consideration of planning principles, the continuing relevance of the planning principles in Veloshin v Randwick Council [2007] NSWLEC 428 and Seaside Property Developments Pty Ltd v Wyong Shire Council [2004] NSWLEC 117 ; (2004) 136 LGERA 111 . The Commissioners have concluded that there is continuing relevance in the planning principles in Veloshin, without revision. The Commissioners have also concluded that the principles in Seaside Property remain relevant in relation to the comments on the zone boundary interface but not relevant in relation to the comments on the location of private open space.

Latest Housing NSW's figures

24 November 2014

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the June quarter 2014 are now available. Metro Rural

Planning principles remain relevant

29 October 2014

In The Presbyterian Church (New South Wales) Property Trust v Woollahra Municipal Council [2014] NSWLEC 1218, the Senior Commissioner set out at (71) that the Commissioners have considered, through the collegiate system used within the Court for the consideration of planning principles, the continuing relevance of the planning principles in Randall Pty Ltd v Leichhardt Council [2004] NSWLEC 277and Vinson v Randwick Council [2005] NSWLEC 142; (2005) 141 LGERA 27 . The Commissioners have concluded that each of these principles remains relevant and neither requires revision.

Court appointments

24 October 2014

Two new Acting Commissioners of the Court have been appointed with their term commencing on 15 October 2014 and expiring on 14 October 2015. The Acting Commissioners are:
- Mr Robert Hussey is an Engineer and a former Commissioner
- Mr John Maston is a lawyer with valuation experience.      

Heritage planning principle to no longer apply

24 October 2014

It was announced in Comino v Council of the City of Sydney [2014] NSWLEC 1211 that the heritage planning principle in Anglican Church Property Trust v Sydney City Council [2003] NSWLEC 353 at 34 will no longer apply.

Law vacation 2014-15

16 October 2014

The Judges' fixed vacation begins on 22 December 2014 and the first day of term in 2015 will be Monday, 2 February 2015.

Matters may be listed for s 34 conferences, mediations and hearings before Commissioners throughout the fixed vacation except for the public holidays of Thursday 25 and Friday 26 December 2014, Thursday 1 and Monday 26 January 2015 and the public service holiday on Monday 29 December 2014.

The registry will be closed on the public service holiday on Monday 29 December 2014.

The final Registrar's directions hearing list for 2014 will be on Tuesday 23 December 2014. The Registrar's directions hearing list will resume on Wednesday 14 January 2015.

A Duty Judge will be available during the fixed vacation for urgent matters.

Planning principle confirmed

8 October 2014

In Stamford Property Services Pty Limited v Council of the City of Sydney [2014] NSWLEC 1206[at (54) to (57)], Senior Commissioner Moore confirmed that, following a review of planning principles undertaken by the Commissioners of the Court in late 2013, the Commissioners had determined that the planning principle in Tenacity Consulting v Warringah Council [2004] NSWLEC 140 should be confirmed as having ongoing validity and relevance. Other aspects of the Commissioners’ review will be set out as and when an appropriate case arises to provide an opportunity to deal with any of the other existing planning principles.                    

Judicial Newsletter

7 October 2014

Vol 6 Issue 3 of the Court's Judicial Newsletter is now available.

Our web address has changed

26 September 2014

Our website has changed. The new address is www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au Please make sure to update your bookmarks.            

Our web address is changing

10 September 2014

In mid September our website is changing. The new address will be www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au A further announcement will be made when the change occurs.

New Website for Department of Justice

10 September 2014

Valuer General Policies

4 September 2014

The valuer General has commenced publishing policies for the land valuation system a link to these policies is available on the Helpful materials page for valuation objection appeals.

Planning principle confirmed

2 September 2014

In Revelop Projects Pty Limited v Parramatta City Council [2014] NSWLEC 1167 [at (30) and (31)], Senior Commissioner Moore confirmed that, following a review of planning principles undertaken by the Commissioners of the Court in late 2013, the Commissioners had determined that the planning principle in Project Venture Developments v Pittwater Council [2005] NSWLEC 191; (2005) 141 LGERA 80 should be confirmed as having ongoing validity and relevance. Other aspects of the Commissioners’ review will be set out as and when an appropriate case arises to provide an opportunity to deal with any of the other existing planning principles.      

Database metrics and statistics

August 2014

The Court, as part of its implementation of the International Framework for Court Excellence, commissioned a project with the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) to use AustLII's databases to generate relevant metrics and statistics concerning the Court. These provide information concerning the frequency and nature of the citation of decisions of the Court by other courts or tribunals and the use made of the Court's decisions by academic journals that are publicly electronically accessible. The project also enables extraction of information about what are the most frequently cited decisions of the Court as well as about the general rate of accessing the Court's cases through AustLII's databases.

The data is available on a calendar year basis and links for the data for the years ending 31 December for each of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 are available on the Court’s website at Publications and Resources then Database metrics and statistics.

The project has generated this information not only as a resource able to be accessed through the Court and AustLII websites but also to provide useful material for publication in the Court's Annual Report.

The Court and AustLII welcome any suggestions as to how this data might be made more useful. Comments or suggestions should be provided to the Court, for the attention of its Senior Commissioner, by e-mail to lecourt@justice.nsw.gov.au

Latest Housing NSW's figures

August 2014

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the March quarter 2014 are now available. 

Court fees

1 July 2014

Court Fees have been increased as a result of amendments to the Civil Procedure Regulation 2012. The new schedule of fees are effective from 1 July 2014.

Judicial Newsletter

3 June 2014

Vol 6 Issue 2 of the LECs Judicial Newsletter is now available.

Court appointments

28 May 2014

Three new Acting Commissioners of the Court have been appointed today with their term expiring on 25 February 2015. The Acting Commissioners are:
- Ms Lisa Durland is an arborist and horticulturist.
- Mr Norman Laing is a qualified lawyer with knowledge and experience concerning land rights for Aborigines, disputes involving Aborigines, and Aboriginal cultural heritage. He is an Aboriginal man from the Dunghutti people on the mid north coast of NSW.
- Mr Ross Speers is a chartered professional engineer. He has extensive experience in civil and structural engineering. 

New Paper

19 May 2014

A Paper on Assisting self-represented litigants– particularly for cases with on-site hearings or on-site conciliation conferences – in the NSW Land and Environment Court presented at the AIJA conference on 17 April by Senior Commissioner Moore is now available.      

Registrars Delegation

14 May 2014

Delegation to Registrars under section 13 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 has been updated.      

Latest Housing NSW's figures

14 May 2014

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the December quarter 2013 are now available. Metro Rural

Land and Environment Court annual survey

30 April 2014

During the month of May the Land and Environment Court will be conducting a survey to measure client satisfaction with the services provided by the Court. The results of the survey will help the Court to improve its services. The survey will be available at the Court registry and on this website, and will be given to parties at the conclusion of Court mentions and hearings. Please click on the following link – survey- to access the survey, once completed it can be returned to the Court at our email address lecourt@justice.nsw.gov.au, in person at the level 4 Registry at 225 Macquarie Street Sydney or by post to GPO Box 3565, SYDNEY NSW 2001. The Court appreciates the time taken to assist us by completing the survey.     

New Class 4 Summons

5 March 2014

From 5 March 2014 a new summons ( Form 85 (version 1))is to be used in all Class 4 judicial review proceedings. Existing Form 4A or Form 4B (version 3) is to be used in all other Class 4 proceedings.        

Changes to the Rules governing Electronic Case Management

17 February 2014

Part 3 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules has governed Electronic Case Management for the Land and Environment Court , the Supreme, District and Local Courts for some time.

The Uniform Rules Committee decided in late 2013 to review and refresh the Rules to reflect the increased range of documents that will shortly become available for online filing in the Supreme, District and Local Courts following the conclusion of the comprehensive trial of the NSW Online Registry conducted throughout 2013.

It should be noted that, in the Land and Environment Court, e-Court continues to be the applicable electronic case management system under Part 3 of the UCPR. Schedule 4, Documents relating to the Land and Environment Court has be updated.

The date of commencement of these Rules is 10 February 2014.

For more information, please see the following Latest News item on the UCPR website:
http://www.ucprforms.justice.n​sw.gov.au/​

Judicial Newsletter

13 February 2014

Vol 6 Issue 1 of the LECs Judicial Newsletter is now available.      

Latest Housing NSW's figures

10 February 2014

Housing NSW's median sales prices for all dwellings by LGA for the September quarter 2013 are now available. Metro Rural

Planning Principle clarification

January 2014

In their judgment in Meriton Property Services Pty Limited v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure [2013] NSWLEC 1260, Moore SC and Pearson C noted that the revised planning principle in Davies v Penrith City Council [2013] NSWLEC 1141 not only revised the planning principle in Pafburn v North Sydney Council [2005] NSWLEC 444 but also superseded the first limb of the planning principle in Super Studio v Waverley Council [2004] NSWLEC 91. As a consequence, the first limb of the planning principle in Super Studio is no longer to be applied.