Cranbrook School v Woollahra Municipal Council [2005] NSWLEC 716

Cranbrook School v Woollahra Municipal Council [2005] NSWLEC 716

Cranbrook was a body of persons associated for a relevant community welfare purpose, but the proposed Junior School Redevelopment was not a "community facility" under the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995. The definition of community facility was intended to define the facility by both ownership or control and use. Paragraphs (a) and (b) exhaustively identified the uses that could qualify, and a school did not fall within either paragraph. The proposed development was therefore prohibited on the Zone No 6 Open Space land.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
14 December 2005
Procedural Posture
Question of Law; Application for Declaration Concerning Permissibility of Proposed Development Under Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 / Final Judgment
Outcome
The Court declared that the proposed development was not development comprising a "community facility" under the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 and ordered the applicant to pay the respondent's costs unless an application for a different costs order was made within 21 days.
Legal Topics
['woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995' 'open Space Zone' 'community Facility' 'educational Establishment' 'permissible Development With Consent' 'body of Persons Associated' 'interpretation of Include']
['environmental Planning Law' 'land Use and Zoning' 'statutory Interpretation'] ['woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995' 'open Space Zone' 'community Facility' 'educational Establishment' 'permissible Development With Consent' 'body of Persons Associated' 'interpretation of Include']

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Procedural Posture

Question of Law; Application for Declaration Concerning Permissibility of Proposed Development Under Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 / Final Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether Cranbrook School\'s proposed erection of school buildings and associated facilities at 6 Kent Road, Rose Bay constitutes a "community facility" within the meaning of the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995.' 'Whether Cranbrook School, as a company limited by guarantee, is a "body of persons associated" for the physical, social, cultural, economic, intellectual or religious welfare of the community.' 'Whether paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of "community facility" exhaustively identify the uses that qualify as a community facility.' 'Whether a school use can be characterised as a community facility even though an educational establishment is prohibited in the Open Space Zone.']

Ratio Decidendi

Cranbrook was a body of persons associated for a relevant community welfare purpose, but the proposed Junior School Redevelopment was not a "community facility" under the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995. The definition of community facility was intended to define the facility by both ownership or control and use. Paragraphs (a) and (b) exhaustively identified the uses that could qualify, and a school did not fall within either paragraph. The proposed development was therefore prohibited on the Zone No 6 Open Space land.

Court Disposition

The Court declared that the proposed development was not development comprising a "community facility" under the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 and ordered the applicant to pay the respondent's costs unless an application for a different costs order was made within 21 days.

Orders

  • ['The applicant\'s proposed development comprising the erection of school buildings and associated facilities on land at 6 Kent Road, Rose Bay is not development comprising a "community facility" under the provisions of the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995.' "The applicant pay the respondent's costs, unless...