The NSW Land and Environment Court decision in
Saffioti v Kiama Municipal Council will be of interest to
applicants seeking development consent, including for changes to
existing use rights.
In Saffioti v Kiama Municipal Council [2018] NSWLEC
1426 the NSW Land and Environment Court (Court)
considered an appeal against a Commissioner's decision
regarding an application by Ms Saffioti
(Applicant) to erect a new dwelling on her land
and use the existing dwelling on that land as an art studio, in
reliance on existing use rights.
The decision is interesting because the Court held that
Commissioners hearing Class 1 planning appeals are not required to
give an 'amber light' to applicants seeking development
consent, by alerting them to issues with their applications and
giving them an opportunity to modify applications to make them
acceptable. The Court found that this approach has no statutory
basis.
