Developers challenging Ku-ring-gai Council decisions are costing ratepayers millions of dollars in Land and Environment Court

KU-RING-GAI Council has forked out more than $1.2 million in Land and Environment Court costs in the past year as appeals against decisions continue to skyrocket.

Ku-ring-gai Mayor Jennifer Anderson at Council Chambers in Gordon. Gordon, Tuesday 2 October, 2017. (AAP Image/Annika Enderborg)

KU-RING-GAI Council has forked out more than $1.2 million in Land and Environment Court costs in the past year as appeals against decisions continue to skyrocket.

The number of appeals sparked by developers challenging council decisions has risen from 16 in the 2013/14 financial year to 45 in the 2017/18 financial year.

A report from Ku-ring-gai Council this week revealed many of the cases involved seniors’ housing, subdivision and townhouse proposals.

The amount spent defending the appeals was almost $200,000 over the council’s annual legal budget.

The council has spent $117,832 defending its decision to refuse a development application for the construction of six townhouses in Duff St, Turramurra, over the past several years. More than $50,000 has been spent on a case involving a dual occupancy proposal in Jacana Cl, Wahroonga.

Appeals from developers have risen from 16 to 45 over the past 5 years.

A total of $49,363 was spent fighting a developer over its plans to build a seniors’ living development in Bobbin Head Rd, Turramurra.

“In addition to expenditure on appeals, a further amount of $103,825 was spent in obtaining expert advice regarding development assessment matters,” a council report said.

The report said the number of appeals had been high due to changes to planning acts that reduced the time frame for appeals from 12 months to six months.

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“The prospect of changing economic market conditions in late 2017 appears to have led to urgency on the part of developers of multi-housing developments in particular, with a number of appeals commenced immediately on the basis of deemed refusal,” it said.

The report revealed success rates against appeals remained high, resulting in more than $135,000 being recovered in the past year.