South Tralee Victory

Alan Bradbury and Kate Harvey from our local government and planning team successfully assisted Queanbeyan City Council to defend a challenge to the legal validity of steps taken by the Council to rezone land for a new residential suburb at South Tralee.

The proceedings were brought by Canberra Airport Group (CAG) and heard by Justice Biscoe of the NSW Land and Environment Court in early March this year.  CAG raised 13 separate grounds of challenge alleging that the Council’s decision to submit the draft South Tralee rezoning plan to the Department of Planning for approval to publicly exhibit the plan was invalid. CAG argued that the Council had failed to follow the necessary legislative processes and that its decision was affected by an apprehension of bias.

In upholding the validity of the Council’s decision and processes, the Court dismissed every one of the 13 grounds of challenge and ordered CAG to pay the Council’s legal costs.

Our team worked closely with the relevant Council officers to prepare a detailed response to each of the allegations made by CAG – meticulous preparation that produced an excellent outcome for the Council.