A company that sued a Sydney council over the forced acquisition of land needed for drainage and habitat for a protected species of frog has won compensation – but only half what it was offered in the first place.
In a ruling in the Land and Environment Court on Tuesday, Justice Rachel Pepper said UPG 72 Pty Ltd was entitled to $1.24 million for the 1200-square-metre lot in Sydney’s north-west that Blacktown City Council is expropriating for drainage and habitat for the green and golden bell frog.
The lot in Riverstone has been acquired for drainage and to protect the habitat of the green and golden bell frog.Credit: Google Maps
The council had offered UPG $2.49 million in September 2022 for the land in the Riverstone Precinct based on the opinion of the NSW valuer-general, which the company rejected. Instead, UPG sought more than $7 million, arguing the land should be zoned residential, while the council offered to pay “nil”.
Pepper ruled that while a 500-square-metre section of the lot would have been zoned as low-rise residential housing, enough for a single dwelling, more than half would have been zoned E2 for environmental conservation and for drainage into the nearby First Ponds Creek.
Under this rezoning scenario, market value of the acquired land was $1.2 million.
Pepper accepted the company’s argument that the public purpose for acquiring the land was limited to drainage and works to protect the frog, as this was the intention of the planning minister when the land was released. She rejected the council’s counter-argument as an attempt to “conflate” other issues.
The habitat of the vulnerable green and golden bell frog is protected, which has stymied development plans in parts of Sydney such as the Brickpit at Olympic Park.Credit: Nick Moir
Pepper also agreed with UPG that the land was unlikely to have been zoned rural, as it was “abundantly clear” the Riverstone Precinct was being released for urban development.
Pepper said the need to protect the frog habitat “was made tolerably clear” by the Riverstone Precinct documents before the planning minister.
The land also had some potential as a breeding ground for the frog, although was considered “low-quality” because the waterway contained plague minnow, aka mosquito fish, and was “significantly shaded” by the cockspur coral tree, which the NSW government considers a weed.
“I agree with the council that the habitat did not have to include breeding habitat to warrant protection,” Pepper wrote.
The green and golden bell frog is one of the largest species in Australia and was listed as vulnerable nationally in 2000. It is the same species of frog that has stymied development at the historic brick pit at Olympic Park, which had been earmarked as a tennis venue for the Sydney Olympics and was more recently touted as a potential replacement for the Rosehill racecourse.
The parties agreed on the costs relating to disturbance, $35,521.20. Pepper ruled UPG was entitled to $1,235,521.20 in compensation.
“Although UPG has been awarded compensation in a sum less than the amount claimed by it and less than that offered by the valuer-general, the amount is more than the compensation offered by the council during these proceedings,” Pepper wrote.
Blacktown City Council has been ordered to pay UPG’s costs unless it objects within 14 days.
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