Pittwater Council v Mundy

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Pittwater Council v Mundy [2016] NSWLEC 3 Hearing dates:16 February 2016Date of orders: 16 February 2016 Decision date: 16 February 2016 Jurisdiction:Class 4Before: Sheahan J Decision: See orders in paragraph [18] Catchwords: CIVIL ENFORCEMENT – non-compliance with order issued by council – ex parte proceedings – declaration and orders made. Legislation Cited: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Local Government Act 1993 Category:Principal judgmentParties: Pittwater Council (Applicant) Adam Mundy (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr S Nash, barrister (Applicant) No appearance (Respondent)   Solicitors: King & Wood Mallesons (Applicant) N/A File Number(s):40569 of 2015EXTEMPORE JudgmentIntroduction Council seeks declaratory relief and consequential orders against the respondent Mundy, in respect of works which (1) have been done to and near his land without the benefit of any development approval, and (2) can be seen to encroach (from Mundy’s land) upon public lands of which Council has control, pursuant to s 48 of the Local Government Act 1993 (“the LG Act”). The subject property is known as 902 Barrenjoey Road, Palm Beach, and the public land most closely involved is the neighbouring McKay Reserve. The status and registered ownership of the Mundy land and the public land have not changed since 2013. Under Pittwater Local Environment Plan 2014 Mundy’s land is zoned E4 Environmental Living and McKay Reserve E2 Environmental Conservation. Both areas of land are steep bushland (Konsti, tab 5). The relevant works involved construction of stone retaining walls, timber retaining walls, timber decking, paving...