Former INXS Manager Chris Murphy has proposed a new retirement village in Ballina Shire. While at this stage a development application has not been lodged with Council, a proposal for the site was...

Environmental Planning and Assessment NSW
Introduction:
For a development consent applicant there is often a compelling presumption of proof. If the Council is the first case or the Court of Appeal, the Applicant must persuade the consent authority to grant the consent for creation. The compelling responsibility requires facts and arguments that can resolve the related environmental effects with acceptable results. Requirements for development consent must contain approved material, including an assessment of the environmental effects[footnoteRef:26913]. Taking into account the claim, the deciding authority (including a court or court hearing the legal appeal) is usually required by statute to take environmental considerations into consideration, so the proponent's own assessment must be the starting point for the environmental impact assessment. Consequently, both at the initial and later stages of the appeal, environmental factors will affect the decision-making process on the merits of the application.[footnoteRef:25509] For making policies that have major environmental impacts, a structured environmental impact assessment (EIA) process can be needed. The decision-maker would also need to prove that due consideration is being given to the environmental impact of construction for applications that are not needed to produce the formal environmental impact statement (EIS). [26913: “Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (NSW) (EPAA) Sch 1 Pt 1; Planning Act 1999 (NT) s 46(3)”.] [25509: “Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPAA) s 4.15; Planning Act 1999 (NT) s 51; Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) s 60(1)(e)”]
Legal Approvals:
New South Wales EA takes place under “The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPAA) “
The approval authority is addressed to (Section 4.15 of the EPAA) in New South Wales where an environmental planning instrument requires development consent ('Development Part 4'), which includes 'the possible effect of such development, including on the environmental effects of both natural and built environments, as well as the social and economic effect of local development.' To meet the criteria of 'Section 4.15' the approval authority would need to consider the plan. In other terms, the applicant needs to give appropriate details to the consent authority for the purpose of reviewing the application. The EPAR Regulation Sch1 outlines information criteria to be included on a consent request for construction. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) may include the details needed for a more substantial construction to be established or substantial state growth.
An Environmental Impacts Statement (ESE), including information on:
(a)the environmental impact of development;
(b)how development environmental impacts are identified; and
(c)what environmental protection measures or less measures should be implemented to ensure that the application is developed without reference to either of the two categories; At least this should serve as a base for the assessment of the proposal. However, if a SEE is not included in an application, the application or any further consent is not automatically invalidated.
In cases where no declaration has been made with the application, the requirements for EIS and species impact statements (SISs) lead to an automatic invalidity since the provision of such statements is a precondition for the determination of the application. The requirement to have a SEE accompanied an application was not construed as an automatic invalidity, as it is nevertheless empowered to ask for further data or merely to reject the application, if a SEE is not presented to the consent authority.[footnoteRef:15691] [15691: “Sections 4.16 and 4.17. Breach of conditions may lead to civil enforcement: see, for example, Oshlack v Iron Gates Pty Ltd (1997) 130 LGERA 189; Mandalong Progress Association Inc v Minister for Planning (2003) 126 LGERA 408; and can also constitute a criminal offence: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) s 9.51.”]
In “Cranky Rock Road Action Group Inc v Cowra Shire Council (2006) 150 LGERA 81”, "When a consent authority considers it has sufficient information for the fulfillment of its statutory obligations to determine the application without a SEE provision there is no reason to grant the consent," said the "New South Wales Court of Appeal" The Court of Appeal. If, on the grounds that the authority for consents had sufficient information to determine the request, it would be curious not to reject it, but the application was nevertheless automatically declared to be invalid. "The New South Wales Court of Appeal" also emphasized that the effects that are likely to result from development, although they may result from an activity which is not the subject of a development application in itself, need to be considered to properly take account of the impacts on the environment under "Section4.15." Section 4.15 should not be read to exclude the impact on the environment which is or is likely to be taken into account in relation to a separate application for development. An application may be refused or granted subject to conditions to take these matters into...