Background
GrowMolong Inc brought a Class 1 appeal under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), challenging conditions imposed by Cabonne Council when it approved DA2025/0107. The application concerned murals on GrainCorp silos at Watson Street, Molong, together with fencing, landscaping, an ancillary car park and works in the adjoining road reserve.
Following conciliation conferences, the parties agreed to revised plans and consent conditions. Their agreement amended several disputed conditions, deleted the requirement that GrowMolong fully fund specified widening of Watson Street, and added conditions for the ancillary car park. Transport for NSW provided the concurrence required for works in the road reserve.
The Court’s Holding
The Court upheld the appeal and, exercising the consent authority’s functions, granted development consent for the amended project subject to the conditions in Annexure B. It separately granted consent under s 138(1) of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) for works within the Watson Street road reserve, subject to Annexure A.
Under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW), the Court was required to implement the parties’ agreement once satisfied that it was a decision the Court could properly have made. Acting Commissioner Swan found the relevant planning, contamination, transport, heritage, flooding, stormwater, groundwater, subsidence, access and public-interest requirements had been addressed. The Court expressly made no merits assessment of the issues originally disputed between the parties.
Key Takeaways
- A conciliation agreement in a Class 1 planning appeal must be adopted if the Court is satisfied that the agreed decision could properly have been made.
- The approved project includes silo murals, pool-style fencing, vegetation planting, an ancillary car park and associated road-reserve works.
- The original Watson Street widening condition was deleted, while other conditions were revised and new car-park conditions were imposed.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates how disputed development-consent conditions can be resolved through court-supervised conciliation while still requiring the Court to verify its jurisdiction and the satisfaction of applicable planning prerequisites.
It also confirms that approval for development involving a classified-road reserve may combine development consent with a Roads Act consent, provided the necessary concurrence and statutory assessments are in place.