NTCAT finds in favour of builder in Blake Street development decision

A Northern Territory builder has had a decisive victory in his bid to build an apartment complex in a Darwin suburb.

Elysium Green

A Northern Territory builder has had a significant legal victory in his fight to develop a residential apartment complex in an inner-Darwin suburb.

The Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal ended months of uncertainty on Monday when it ordered in favour of developer Kalhmera Pty Ltd, proponents of the Elysium Green development in Blake Street, The Gardens.

Community group Planning for People led by former NT chief magistrate Hugh Bradley took its decade-long fight against the development to the NT Administrative Appeals Tribunal in an attempt to overturn an earlier Development Consent Authority decision that found in favour of the project.

In the opposite corner, Kalhmera’s Michael Makrylos maintained the project had merit and would go ahead.

After months of delays by the NTCAT which prompted all parties involved in the dispute to call for a decision, this week marks a significant development in the life of the drawn-out project.

Elysium Green

Presiding NTCAT member Ron Levy found the Development Consent Authority’s August 24, 2021 determination relating to 4 Blake Street “is confirmed”.

In August 2021 the DCA approved with amendments an application to develop 67 two-bedroom and 34 three-bedroom apartments with ground floor commercial tenancies in a twin-towered, seven storey building, including basement at 4 Blake Street.

It followed the 2015 decision by former Planning Minister David Tollner to rezone Lot 7820, adjacent to the old Channel 9 building, from community use to a specific use zone, which would allow a specified residential development at the site.

The Gardens' residents have fought the proposed development. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

In March 2023, the NTCAT found the DCA had “manifestly” failed to consider the potential impact of the proposed development on the existing and future amenity of the Blake Street-The Gardens area.

After a series of legal back and forths between the NTCAT and Supreme Court since then, Mr Levy’s order this week reaffirmed an earlier comment by Supreme Court judge Meredith Huntingford that a decision around manifest failure “is not to be lightly reached”.

“I am otherwise not satisfied that this precondition is established by the evidence before the tribunal,” the NTCAT report said.

“That evidence comprehensively demonstrated that the DCA carefully considered, and took ‘into account’ the items listed in ... the Planning Act 1999.”

An earlier version of the proposed development. Architects impressions: ARCHIDIOM DESIGN

He said differences in opinion from “reasonable minds” did not mean the DCA failed to apply the planning scheme.

“Nor can it be said, in my view, that the DCA’s determination would ‘result in a planning

outcome manifestly contrary to a provision of the planning scheme’ – as submitted by Planning for the People

“I accept that the DCA carefully considered the evidence and submissions by reference to the planning scheme. There is no evidence that the DCA failed to perform its task independently; rather, it simply formed a different view on the material than that favoured by Planning for People.”

Representatives from Kalhmera and Planning for People have been contacted for comment.

Last month, the NT News reported both parties in the dispute had called for a decision by the NTCAT after months of inexplicable delays.

The hold-ups frustrated the CLP Government, with Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby acknowledging the process had “dragged on”.

Originally published as NTCAT finds in favour of builder in Blake Street development decision