News Articles

In a recent case in the Supreme Court of NSW Justice Young granted relief against forfeiture in favour of a tenant who operated a nightclub in Kings Cross(Elevation (NSW) Pty Ltd v Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) – [2014] NSWSC 331). It wasn’t the first time there were difficulties between the landlord and

Question: Can I have access to, or through, my neighbour’s land? The short answer is: Yes, if your neighbour agrees. Otherwise, the answer is longer, with legal options available in some circumstances. In NSW, there is legislation that enables Court ordered access to be granted, both temporary and permanent in certain situations. But, the Courts

Pre-DA meetings – Yes, No, Maybe? Outcomes of a pre-DA meeting can be mixed so: time it right; be prepared; and, think before you pre-DA. what is a pre-DA meeting? A pre-DA meeting is a meeting with experienced officers from Council who may end up assessing your development application (“DA”). The officers usually give some

Great news! – Your development has been approved! Let’s read through these conditions, I’m sure they will be fine… Unfortunately for some, the joy of an approval can be fleeting. Conditions on a development consent (“a Consent”) can sometimes become another hurdle to overcome just when an applicant thought they were getting to the end

Thanks for the frogs! – Council’s liability in nuisance to a downstream developer for inadequate action on upstream development & deliberately directing stormwater onto private land Gales Holdings Pty Ltd v Tweed Shire Council [2013] NSWCA 382 Gales Holdings owned a large site of undeveloped land in Kingscliff (“the Site”); the Council did not adequately

Gregory Ross Partner Government Law Seminar 19 March 2014 Deciding when to outsource When to outsource and what to outsource is, of course, an internal decision. It is partly a risk management decision. It is partly a resourcing decision. There may well be policy reasons why some types of goods and/or services are not outsourced.

“A development consent is a valuable asset. It is a statutory permission that authorises the carrying out of development on land, mostly for economic gain… It adds value to the land. Hence the prospect of a consent lapsing is apt to engender dismay in the holder of the consent.” CJ Preston in para 1 Kinder

This is probably the most common question asked of planning lawyers and an experience most people would prefer to avoid. The refusal, or “failure”, to give a consent to a development application (“DA”) by consent authorities (usually local councils) can have a very personal impact on applicants who are often not professional developers and are

I have heard clients say this before and think no-one should want to go to Court, although the Land & Environment Court (“L&E Court“) is probably a more pleasant court to be in than others. By the time applicants under a DA seek legal advice, they are usually unwilling to wait anymore or try again

by Peter Aked, Partner, and Kerry Sidaway, Partner 26 November 2013 When the Personal Property Security Act 2009 (Cth.) (“PPSA”) came into force on 30 January 2012 pre-existing ‘securities interests’ over personal property (i.e. excluding land, fixtures and specified statutory interests) which were defined to be a ‘transitional security interest’ were deemed to be temporarily

POST CONTRACT MANAGEMENT: WE HAVE THE CONTRACT, NOW WHAT? Gregory Ross [1] Abstract: Winning a contract, whether by direct negotiation, acceptance of a tender lodged, success in an expression of interest process followed by negotiation or otherwise is only the first step. Ensuring that the contract works operationally on the ground to achieve its intended

Christina Cavallaro, Associate Mark Doble, Partner 27 August 2013 Overview Is there a risk that an adviser to a company may be deemed to be a shadow director? This paper examines the circumstances in which a person may be found to be a shadow director and provides some practical tips on how advisers can avoid

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. When I was invited to write this paper, I remembered an incident to do with NSW Government procurement law which occurred soon after I was appointed Assistant Crown Solicitor for NSW in 1990. I received a phone call from an officer of the State Contracts Control Board

BY MARK DOBLE, PARTNER 7 MAY 2013 OVERVIEW In this paper I address the three most common types of administration of insolvent corporations. The three types of administrations with which I intend to deal are: Liquidation; Voluntary administration with a view to executing a deed of company arrangement; and Receiverships. I should point out that