Heritage listing blocks fast-track approval for a telco facility

What has happened?

In Northern Beaches Council v Indara [2026] NSWLEC 53, the Land and Environment Court declared invalid a complying development certificate (CDC) issued for a mobile phone facility on the roof of a heritage-listed building in Collaroy.

Context

Complying development is a fast-track approval: a private certifier can issue a CDC if the development meets pre-set standards, without a full merit assessment by council.

Indara, acting for a telecommunications carrier, proposed a facility with a 5.8 metre antenna and associated equipment on the former Arlington Amusement Hall, a local heritage item. After a long dispute with the Council, a private certifier issued a CDC in September 2025. Works started two days later, and the Council obtained an undertaking that they would stop pending the Court's decision.

The decision

Clause 1.17A(1)(d)(iii) of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Codes SEPP) provides that development on land containing a heritage item cannot be complying development under any environmental planning instrument.

Indara argued that the State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 (T&I SEPP) prevailed. Justice Beasley rejected that argument:

  • There was no inconsistency between the two policies. The T&I SEPP's complying development standards for antennas mention heritage conservation areas but not heritage items, while its exempt development standards mention both. This reinforced that the heritage item exclusion in the Codes SEPP still applies.

  • The rules about which policy prevails apply only where both policies "specify the same development". A full telecommunications facility is not the "same development" as the simple aerial or antenna described in the Codes SEPP.

The CDC was declared invalid, and Indara was ordered to pay the Council's costs.

How will this affect you?

  • Development on a heritage item, including infrastructure, generally cannot use the complying development pathway. A development application will be needed.

  • Certifiers and proponents should check heritage listings carefully before relying on a CDC.

  • Councils can act quickly to restrain works where a CDC is invalid.

Further information

For further information please contact Darren Bick, Director, on +61 416 167 556 or darren.bick@bicksteele.com.au.