On 20 September 2016, Moore J handed down the Land and Environment Court’s decision following a legal challenge by a number of Local Councils against proposed amalgamations by the NSW Government. In May and June 2016, the Court heard simultaneously five cases which challenged the legitimacy of proposed amalgamations. The Local Council’s involved were Hunter’s Hill Council, Lane Cove Council, Mosman Municipal Council, North Sydney Council and Strathfield Municipal Council.
Council lawyers attended the Land and Environment Court and received a judgment that outlined that some local councils were able to prove that part of the amalgamation process was flawed. The judgment stated that process involved in the proposed Hunter’s Hill, Lane Cove and Ryde amalgamation was legitimate and the proceedings of Hunter’s Hill Council and Lane Cove Council were dismissed.
The Court found in its judgment however that the proposed Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby amalgamation was not legitimate under the Local Government Act 1993 because the report furnished by the Delegate was not a valid report. In respect of the Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield amalgamation, the Minister and other Respondent’s had conceded that the report furnished by the Delegate was not valid and therefore the amalgamation was also not legitimate.
For a full copy of the judgment, click on the following link:- https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/57df5763e4b0e71e17f54344
Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, Parramatta, are specialist local government lawyers who are able to advise in relation to all matters relating to governance, planning and environmental law. Call an expert environmental lawyer today on 1800 300 308.
Decision in North Sydney Council v Minister for Local Government [2016] NSWLEC 124
The Land and Environment Court has determined that at the present time there is no proper statutory function for the proposed amalgamation of Mosman Municipal Council, North Sydney Council and Willoughby City Council.
Matthews Folbigg’s Local Government lawyers represented North Sydney Council in a legal challenge against the proposed amalgamation of the Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby local government areas. On 20 September 2016 the Land and Environment Court handed down its judgment which highlighted that North Sydney Council sufficiently established that the Delegate who had been assigned the task of inquiring into and reporting on the proposed amalgamation had failed to have regard to an aspect mandated by s263(3) of the Local Government Act 1993. As part of his inquiring and reporting into the proposed amalgamation the Delegate was to have regard to the opinions of each of the diverse communities of the resulting areas under s263(3)(e5). The Court found the Delegate did not do so, thus at the present time the Delegate has not completed the task to which he was appointed and the proposed amalgamation remains in the hands of the Delegate.
For a full copy of the judgment, click on the following link:- https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/57df5763e4b0e71e17f54344
Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, Parramatta, are specialist local government lawyers who are able to advise in relation to all matters relating to governance, planning and environmental law. Call an expert environmental lawyer today on 1800 300 308.
