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Universal 1919 Pty Ltd v 122 Pitt Street Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 50

The Court of Appeal recently considered and upheld a judicial review decision, Universal 1919 Pty Ltd v 122 Pitt Street Pty Ltd [2019] NSWLEC 117 (“Universal  1”). As a result, we now have a unanimous decision from the Court of Appeal of NSW that the statutory requirements found in Schedule 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to afford procedural fairness to a recipient of a section 9.34 Notice are sufficient to exclude any remaining common law rights.

Universal 1 was a decision made by Justice Biscoe in the Class 4 jurisdiction of the Land and Environment Court, in relation to the validity of a Development Control Order No. 10, Restore Works Order issued under section 9.34 and 9.35 and Schedule 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘the Act’). [...]  READ MORE →

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Costly Coal Spill in World Heritage Area

EPA v Clarence Colliery Pty Ltd; Chief Executive, Office of Environment & Heritage v Clarence Colliery Pty Ltd [2017] NSWLEC 82 per Robson J

Background

Clarence Colliery Pty Ltd (Clarence Colliery) operates a coal mine near Newnes Junction in the Blue Mountains area.  In July 2015 an overtopping incident occurred where 2,300 tonnes of coal escaped from a coal storage area and entered an unnamed watercourse, the Wollangambe River and the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park.

The EPA issued clean-up notices and oversaw a comprehensive clean-up of the coal material including over 44 inspections and over 600 helicopter trips to remove the coal from the river.  The clean-up efforts cost more than $2M. [...]  READ MORE →

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The Benefits of Mediation

What is Mediation?

Mediation is a structured negotiation process whereby a neutral independent party, the mediator, helps the parties in a dispute to achieve their own resolution to the dispute.

When should parties mediate?

Mediation is most successful when the parties have a genuine desire to settle and prepared to compromise.

The following are examples of circumstances where mediation may occur:

  • compulsory referral to mediation by order of the court
  • before commencement of litigation
  • early in the stages of litigation
  • when the Plaintiff has prepared evidence but the defendant has not
  • after all evidence has been served and a court date has been set

Benefits

One of the key benefits of mediation is confidentiality.  The Civil Procedure Act 2005 provides that admissions made in mediation or evidence of anything said in mediation is not admissible in any proceedings before a court or other body (see s 30(4)).  If the mediation is unsuccessful, the substance of the mediation cannot be used against a party later in the proceedings. [...]  READ MORE →

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Hefty Fine in Polluting Waters Prosecution

In the recent decision Environment Protection Authority v Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific Pty Ltd [2017] NSWLEC 64, Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (Dyno Nobel) was convicted of two offences under the Protection of Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act).

The Offences

The first offence was for polluting waters (s 120(1) POECO Act) and the second offence was for breaching its Environment Protection Licence conditions (s 64(1) POEO Act).

These offences arose out of a pollution incident in 2015.  Work on Dyno Nobel’s on-site collection dams for wastewater caused wastewater to flow into neighbouring property.  A misplaced pipe and a valve failure resulted in the toxic wastewater flowing onto a neighbouring farm where it waterlogged a paddock, killed livestock and stopped 200m short from the major waterway. [...]  READ MORE →