The 10 Commandments for developers and consent authorities governing conditions of consent

IN BRIEF - WHAT DEVELOPERS AND CONSENT AUTHORITIES SHOULD CONSIDER REGARDING VALIDITY OF CONDITIONS OF CONSENT

Uncertainty about the validity of conditions of consent is common to both developers/landowners and consent authorities. It is not always "black and white", but there are nevertheless a number of clear axioms governing the validity of conditions of consent.

What is abundantly clear is that consent authorities are empowered to grant development consents subject to conditions ( section 80(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979). The uncertainty relates to how far and wide these conditions can go - numerous cases in the Land and Environment Court (and other courts) have been fought on these lines.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS FOR DEVELOPERS AND CONSENT AUTHORITIES

The below 10 commandments will help answer questions from developers such as:

Isn't the consent authority overreaching? How can they impose that condition? It will also help consent authorities answer questions such as:

Can we validly impose a condition like this? Is a condition like this reasonable? COMMANDMENT 1

You must comply with the requirements set out in section 80A of the Act, and the condition must fairly and reasonably relate to one of the statutory powers to impose conditions in section 80A.

COMMANDMENT 2

You must...