Tweed Shire Council spend more than half a million dollars on legal services in 2020/21
A new report reveals the council went over what was already a large budget for legal services, with the biggest spend going towards land and environment law.
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Legal fees are costing rate payers an average of $57,000 a month, according to a recent report.
The Legal Services Register for April 1 to June 30 was tabled at the Thursday night Tweed Shire Council meeting revealing the council $300,297 on legal services during that period.
The report also reveals the council spent a total of $688,673 in total on legal fees – more than $100,000 more than what was budgeted.
The highest spending category was in planning and environmental law, where the council spent $575,858 followed by commercial or property law ($45,441), District or Local Court ($42,639) and local government law ($24,735).
Defending a decision against Horseshoe Properties Pty Ltd to not allow a development modification at the Terranora Village Estate was the most costly legal service during the final quarter, costing the council $47,678.
Other spending went towards unauthorised works, compliance and $13,688 on the legal advice regarding the Nightcap on Minjungbul development which was recently refused.
A Tweed Shire Council spokeswoman said legal matters were difficult to predict even if the matter was already before the courts.
“Consequently, it is difficult to accurately predict legal expenses that will occur ahead of time but council prudently manages its budget over the course of the year,” she said.
“Litigation of a wide range and scale of planning and compliance matters in the Land and Environment Court is an increasingly common practice under the NSW planning system, and local communities throughout the state have a high expectation their councils will defend legal challenges by private proponents and entities.
“Unfortunately, the increasing complexity of the planning system necessitates the engagement of high quality legal and technical expertise, which is often very costly.”
She said council costs were occasionally off-set by council being awarded court costs.
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