REFORMS TO CUT COSTS IN PLANNING APPEALS

The Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court, Justice Peter McClellan, today announced further changes to the Court’s procedures to cut the cost of planning appeals.

"One of the constant complaints made about court processes is the cost to litigants. In many cases the complaint is justified. It can be the product of unnecessarily cumbersome court procedures, or, on occasions, a failure by the legal representatives of the parties to pursue the most efficient means of resolving disputes,” Justice McClellan said. “Many appeals relate to proposals to provide domestic facilities or modest residential development. These are not projects of major developers. Every day spent in court adds significantly to the costs for these small proposals,” he continued.

Justice McClellan said that he was determined to continue reform to ensure that the Court took the lead in cutting costs for planning appeals.

“The reforms announced today are intended to result in shorter hearings and reduced costs to the parties. Fundamental to the changes is the use of court-appointed experts, chosen with the agreement of the parties, who will in many cases be the only expert giving evidence on particular issues. Multiple expert witnesses on the same issues will be actively discouraged as part of these reforms.”

“With the fees of experts retained by the parties to give evidence, the costs can become a significant burden for councils and applicants. When this occurs the objective of the legislation, which was to provide for efficient and cheap resolution of merit appeals, can be lost”, he concluded.

The changes follow on from earlier reforms commencing on 2 February 2004 and will be effective from 1 March 2004.


Angela Flockhart
Associate to Justice McClellan
Tel: 9228 8353