Reading RoomThe festive season is a common time for clients to be ‘ambushed’ by a security of payment claim. With many offices shutting down over the festive season, the risk of failing to detect the service of a payment claim under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (the Act) and not serving a payment schedule within …
Residential building claims for defective works have grown exponentially over the past decade, in large part due to the increasing trend of Owners' Corporations commencing proceedings at the last possible time permitted by the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW).
The Home Building Amendment Act 2011 (NSW) received assent from Parliament on 25 October 2011. The Amending …
On 26 May 2010 the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Development Consents) Act 2010 (Amendment Act) came into force. The Amendment Act, first introduced into the NSW Parliament on 22 April 2010, is intended to assist developers who are struggling in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis to commence approved developments before consent periods lapse. …
The Tribunal's decision in Moorabool Shire Council v Millar & Merrigan Pty Ltd (29 March 2010)* is a significant decision for subdivision planners, surveyors and developers alike. It provides authority where there was none, about the application of section 68 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Act) to staged subdivision permits without an expiry …
This case involves an interesting interplay between planning and administrative law. The Applicant submitted a number of distinct yet interrelated arguments for the invalidity of a development consent. The basis of the argument was that Penrith City Council had not only incorrectly decided the development consent, but also that it had no power to decide the development application in the first …
The much heralded Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment (Property Developers Prohibition) Bill 2009 was assented to on 14 December 2009, and commenced on the same day. The Bill amends the Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 (the EFDA). The changes follow close media scrutiny over the political donations relating to the Medich Property Group which provided …
Some time ago in Hassta Holdings Pty Ltd v Maroondah CC [2007] VCAT 2455 (Hassta), the Tribunal held that the practice of making a public open space requirement under section 18 of the Subdivision Act 1988 by way of a note on a planning permit is not a valid means of making such a requirement. The Hassta decision was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court. …
On 23 October 2009, the Court of Appeal in Maroondah City Council v Graham C Fletcher and Minister for Planning [2009] VSCA 250 allowed Council's appeal and ordered that Fletcher's challenge to a POS requirement (imposed by permit condition) be remitted to VCAT for rehearing, in accordance with law.
The Appeal focused on whether Council was, in light of the particular …
On 26 October 2009, the bipartisan House Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts (Committee) presented its report on the inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities –"Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate: the Time to Act is Now". There are a number of findings …
Urban Growth Boundary (UGB): Growth Areas Infrastrucutre Contribution (GAIC): Draft Exposure Bill October 2009.
On 16 October 2009 the Victorian Government released the GAIC Draft Exposure Bill for public comment.
To view the full Update, please download PDF.
