Council announces changes to approaching Land and Environment Court appeals

The matters were discussed at an extraordinary meeting of council on May 1, and followed council's reflection on Frensham School's Holt Bush Accommodation proposal, which was given the green light by the LEC in February.

It followed recommendations at the April 17 ordinary meeting to ensure matters before the LEC are not "outsourced".

Going forward, the council will report on LEC appeals and the Local Planning Panel (LPP) will be notified and consulted for advice on how they are managed.

The LPP's roles are to determine DAs that would have been referred to council, offers advice on any planning proposal that has been, or will be prepared by council, and advice on other planning and development matters that will be referred by the WSC.

The general manager will also be delegated the authority for independent reviews from the council's incoming professional panel, and on the recommendation of its legal advisers.

Minutes from the April 17 meeting reveal that defending the appeal against the refusal of the proposed school accommodation cost the council $384,690.58 across three financial years.

This included fees for two lawyers, a barrister, planning, engineering, environmental and bushfire expert witnesses, as well as disbursements.

"I think there needs to be a mechanism to make sure that there is confidence and people realise that well, we are better with improving times to wait, and not go to the court because it's expensive for everybody," council administrator Viv May said during this month's extraordinary meeting.

The DA was lodged in December, 2019, and a notice of a class one appeal against the deemed refusal was made on March 31, 2021, with four court hearings in 2022, and a judgement made in December, 2023.

The May 1 agenda said the solicitors that represented the council changed, and the WSC reviewed its legal panel in mid-2021, where the original solicitors were no longer on the panel.

The case was reassigned to Marsdens Law Group - solicitors on the council's new legal panel.

The expert witnesses were appointed by the council's new solicitors in discussion with the manager of development assessment at the time the April agenda said, and the solicitors had to engage with them with a few weeks notice before a conciliation conference.

Council's director of communities and place Jon Shillito said in the April meeting that there was no record of any meetings from September, 2020 when the council receives a report recommending the DA, and the notice of the refusal in March, 2021.

"I'm just very, very, very concerned about the use of public money on a political exercise and that's what it appears to me it was, and I don't understand why it was not referred back to the panel, by the staff along the way to get their input knowing the competence of that decision-making process..." council administrator Viv May said at the ordinary meeting.

The current members of the LPP are in place until June 30.

According to the extraordinary meeting agenda, the council has 14 LEC appeals on hand that it must respond to, in accordance with requirements set out by the court.