Gary Green and Alistair Knox were recently successful in a Land and Environment Court appeal on behalf of an applicant in relation to an application for demolition and construction of a dwelling house in Tamarama. Council’s contentions primarily related to non-compliance with the height and FSR standards and view loss impacts to adjoining neighbours.

Although the non-compliance with the FSR standard was significant, the non-compliance with the height standard was only minor based on a technical interpretation of “ground floor (existing)”. The Court found that there was no correlation between the two standards and that the FSR control significantly underestimated the GFA that could be achieved by a fully compliant building.

In relation to view loss, the Court found that the parts of the building which caused devastating view loss impacts were fully compliant with the relevant controls relating to setback, wall height and building height. Ultimately, the Court considered the clause 4.6 requests in detail and upheld the application.

Link to judgment