Council of the City of Sydney v Base Backpackers Pty Ltd

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of the City of Sydney v Base Backpackers Pty Ltd [2015] NSWLEC 63 Hearing dates:31 March 2015Date of orders: 01 April 2015 Decision date: 01 April 2015 Jurisdiction:Class 1Before: Preston CJ Decision: (1) Dismiss the appeal.(2) Order the applicant to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal. Catchwords: APPEAL – appeal against Commissioner’s decision on a question of law – granting of modification to development consent to extend hours of operation and amend a plan of management for a hotel – whether Commissioner failed to take into account development control plan – whether Commissioner misdirected herself and asked herself the wrong question – whether Commissioner adopted and applied policy other than policy in development control plan – Commissioner’s reasons for decision must be read as a whole and considered fairly – Commissioner correctly identified applicable provisions of development control plan – Commissioner did not err on question of law in construction and application of development control plan COSTS – Court not to make order for costs in Class 1 appeal unless fair and reasonable in the circumstances – whether order for costs fair and reasonable in the circumstances – Court to consider all circumstances – appeal limited to questions of law – no examination of evidence or conduct of parties in proceedings below – no circumstances that point against making order for costs – no disentitling conduct by successful party – fair and reasonable that unsuccessful party be ordered...