Reading RoomOn 8 April 2011, the State Government amended clause 52.27 to planning schemes by way of Amendment VC79 (Am VC79).
The amendment was prepared by the Minister for Planning in consultation with Responsible Alcohol Victoria and the Department of Justice, who both support the amendment.
In essence, Am VC79 makes clear that a permit is now required …
On 17 March 2011, the Tribunal (per Deputy President Dwyer) made orders which will have a significant impact on the application of clause 52.28 to gaming venues which had gaming machines prior to 18 October 2006.
In McKinnon Hotels Pty Ltd v Glen Eira City Council, the Tribunal ruled that if a venue had electronic gaming machines prior to 18 October 2006 – that being …
The Tribunal announced this morning the suspension of the Major Cases List (MCL) effective today.
The suspension of the MCL includes the suspension of the practice note for the MCL and the timeframes included within that practice note. Accordingly, cases within the MCL will no longer have a hearing allocated within 12 weeks and a decision within 16 weeks …
The Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 (Act) provides for the establishment of a national mandatory disclosure scheme (Scheme) for owners and tenants of certain commercial office buildings in relation to the energy efficiency of those buildings. A new Ministerial Determination was issued on 26 November 2010, which clarifies the application of the Scheme, particularly, in relation to mixed use buildings.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption's (ICAC) most recent report provides yet another voice calling for the amendment of Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act).[1] In a context where the NSW opposition has pledged to do away with Part 3A if elected next March, ICAC's report will provide the NSW Labor …
As of November 2010, owners of large commercial office buildings will be required to provide energy efficiency information to potential buyers or lessees under the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Disclosure Scheme.
The recent case of Chetwynd v Armidale Dumaresq Council [2010] NSWSC 690 considered whether the publication of a Code of Conduct Committee report finding that Councillor Chetwynd had breached Council’s adopted Code of Conduct was defamatory.
The Court found, on the evidence that Council did not defame Councillor Chetwynd and provides councils interesting lessons, …
Building owners, operators and users are coming under increasing pressure to prepare their buildings for climate change. What are the legal obligations? Are there any regulatory constraints? What practical options are available to combat climate change?
On 20 May 2010 VCAT (constituted by Deputy President Gibson) in the above mentioned case brought a long saga to an end, by ruling that the applicant must pay to Council a public open space contribution of 5% of the site value – this being the fixed amount specified in the schedule to clause 52.01 of the Maroondah Planning Scheme.
The case had been remitted to VCAT following the successful …
On Monday 3 May 2010, the new "Major Cases List" of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) commenced. This new list will operate as a sub-list of the current Planning and Environment List.
The key objective of the Major Cases List is to accelerate decision making in the Planning and Environment List. The initiative has been funded by the Department …
