All publications relating to ‘Dr. Matthew Cole’
Assessing Scope 3 Emissions: An analysis of the implications of Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group Inc v MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd [2025] NSWCA 163 (the Mount Pleasant decision)
IntroductionOn July 24, 2025, the New South Wales Court of Appeal (NSWCA) delivered a landmark ruling in Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group Inc v MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd [2025] NSWCA 163, overturning the approval of a significant coal mine expansion at Mount Pleasant, near Muswellbrook. The decision, the result of…
Tree disputes among neighbours – know your rights
There is a little-known piece of legislation in NSW called the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006, and it has been the subject of several decisions recently in the NSW Land and Environment Court. In an ideal world, a property owner with concerns about a neighbouring tree, hedge, or stands of plants, would resolve…
Statutory Review of Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW)
Damning Findings from Review of Biodiversity Conservation Act The findings from the 5‑year statutory review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) (BC Act) are in, and it doesn’t make for happy reading. Pursuant to section 14.11(1) of the BC Act, the Minister is to review this Act to determine whether the…
Is your Complying Development Certificate valid?
In the recent decision of Wollondilly Shire Council v Kennedy [2023] NSWLEC 53 the Land and Environment Court has held that the failure by a certifier or consent authority to include the ‘purpose’ of development in a Complying Development Certificate could render that certificate invalid. Implications A complying development certificate can only be issued…
Remediation Orders – What are they? And what happens if you get one?
Many landholders in NSW are unaware of their obligations in respect of land clearing. This is understandable given the number of changes to land clearing rules over the last decade and the complexity of those rules. Instead of prosecuting people for land clearing offences, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment…
Land & Environment Court Declares Development Consent Invalid Over Failure to Impose Relevant Conditions
The Land and Environment Court has held that the failure to impose relevant conditions on a development consent could render it invalid. Background Filetron Pty Ltd (Filetron) and Innovate Partners Pty Ltd atf Banton Family Trust 2 (Innovate) were the owners of neighbouring properties in Marulan, NSW, with Filetron’s land providing Innovate…
Court of Appeal clarifies whether development standards are jurisdictional prerequisites to the grant of development consent
On 26 April 2023, the New South Wales Court of Appeal handed down its decision in El Khouri v Gemaveld Pty Ltd [2023] NSWCA 78 which has further clarified whether compliance with a development standard is a jurisdictional fact that must be satisfied in order to enliven the power of the Land and…
New Employment Zones to commence April 2023 | Planning & Environment
The New South Wales Government has amended Local Environmental Plans to replace Business and Industrial Zones with new ‘Employment Zones’. The changes have been a long time in the making. Originally developed under the former Minister for Planning back in May of 2021, the reforms follow the Productivity Commission’s 2021 White Paper…