What has happened?
In Dual Property Group Pty Ltd v Blacktown City Council [2026] NSWLEC 7, the Land and Environment Court allowed a development application, and the Class 1 appeal against its deemed refusal, to be amended to substitute a different company as the applicant.
Context
A town planner lodged a development application for a housing subdivision in Rouse Hill in the name of the wrong company. The landowner had only consented to a related company, which held an option to buy the land, making the application. The company named as the applicant later went into liquidation, while the Class 1 appeal was pending.
The decision
Justice Pepper explained that simply substituting a new party in the appeal would not work. Only the "applicant for development consent" can appeal under s 8.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, so the development application itself had to be amended first. The Court held that:
sitting as the consent authority, it could approve an amendment to the development application under the planning regulations, including an amendment changing the name of the applicant;
the landowner's written consent could be provided at any time before the application was determined, and it had now been given; and
the Class 1 appeal could then be amended under the civil procedure rules to correct the mistake in the applicant's name.
The Council did not oppose the amendments. The Court noted that the alternative, a fresh application and a new appeal, would have wasted time and costs.
How will this affect you?
Check that the applicant named on a development application is the entity with the landowner's consent and the intended beneficiary of the consent.
Mistakes can sometimes be fixed during an appeal, but the right steps must be taken in the right order: amend the application first, then the appeal.
Further information
For further information please contact Darren Bick, Director, on +61 416 167 556 or darren.bick@bicksteele.com.au.