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NSWNSWLEC

AB Horizon Developments Pty Ltd v Georges River Council

[2026] NSWLEC 1097

Land and Environment Court (NSW)|2026-03-26|Before: Espinosa C

View on NSW Caselaw

General information, not legal advice.

At a glance

Source facts

Court

Land and Environment Court (NSW)

Decision date

2026-03-26

Before

Espinosa C

Catchwords

DEVELOPMENT APPEAL — conciliation conference — agreement
between the parties — orders

Source

Original judgment source is linked above.

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Catchwords

DEVELOPMENT APPEAL — conciliation conference — agreementbetween the parties — orders

Judgment

Source: NSW Caselaw (www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au). Converted to plain text by ZoeLaw. Not the official version.

Medium Neutral Citation: AB Horizon Developments Pty Ltd v Georges River Council [2026] NSWLEC 1097

Hearing dates: Conciliation conference held on 27 February 2026

Date of orders: 26 March 2026

Decision date: 26 March 2026

Jurisdiction: Class 1

Before: Espinosa C

Decision: The Court orders:
(1) Pursuant to s 8.15(3) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) the Applicant is to pay the Respondent’s costs thrown away by reason of the amended plans in the amount of $9,000 within 28 days of the date of the orders.
(2) The appeal is upheld.
(3) Development Application No. DA2025/0068 for Alterations and additions to the approved residential flat building pursuant to Development Consent No. DA2020/0462 granted by the Land and Environment Court on 19 July 2022, including construction of 2 additional storeys, incorporation of 176 - 178 Princes Highway, Beverley Park , various internal reconfigurations and amended façade design resulting in an eight (8) storey residential flat building containing thirty (30) apartments (including six (6) affordable units) over two (2) levels of basement parking spaces on land identified as Lot 1 in DP 798485, also known as 176 Princes Highway, Beverley Park NSW 2217 and Lot 1 in DP 126339, also known as 178 Princes Highway, Beverley Park NSW 2217 is granted development consent subject to the conditions in Annexure A.

Catchwords: DEVELOPMENT APPEAL — conciliation conference — agreement between the parties — orders

AB Horizon Developments Pty Ltd v Georges River Council [2026] NSWLEC 1097 | Case summary | Zoe

COMMISSIONER: This is a Class 1 Development Appeal pursuant to s 8.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPA Act) being an appeal against the refusal of Development Application DA2025/0068 seeking consent for alterations and additions to an approved residential flat building (L&E Court approved DA2020/0462) for layout changes and addition of two storeys (Proposed Development) at 176 and 178 Princes Highway, Beverley Park NSW 2217 legally described as Lot 1 in Deposited Plan (DP) 798485 and Lot 1 in DP 126339 (the Site).
The Court arranged a conciliation conference under s 34(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW) (LEC Act) between the parties, which has been held on 27 February 2026. I have presided over the conciliation conference.
The parties participated in an earlier s 34 Conciliation Conference on 19 December 2025, which was adjourned to enable further amendments and ultimately was terminated. The parties agree that the Proposed Development, as amended, together with the conditions of consent, address the matters arising out of the joint reports and have resolved each of the Respondents’ contentions in the Statement of Facts and Contentions (SOFAC) filed 15 October 2025.
At the conciliation conference, the parties reached agreement as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that would be acceptable to the parties. This decision involved the Court upholding the appeal and granting development consent to the development application subject to conditions.
The DA was publicly notified on 25 March 2025 for 21 days. 39 submissions were received by Council, and all have been considered by the parties in reaching their agreement.
Under s 34(3) of the LEC Act, I must dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the parties’ decision if the parties’ decision is a decision that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions. In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to, and have not, made any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.
The parties’ decision involves the Court exercising the function under s 4.16 of the EPA Act to grant consent to the development application.
There are jurisdictional prerequisites that must be satisfied before this function can be exercised. The parties identified the jurisdictional prerequisites of relevance in these proceedings to be the terms of Georges River Local Environmental Plan 2021 (GRLEP) and State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP). The parties explained how the jurisdictional prerequisites have been satisfied.
The Applicant is the registered owner of the Site.
The Site is zoned R4 - High Density Residential under the GRLEP where development for the purposes of a residential flat building is permissible with consent. The Site fronts Princes Highway, which is zoned SP2 - Classified Road under the GRLEP.
Demolition may be carried out with development consent in accordance with cl 2.7 of GRLEP. Earthworks may be carried out with development consent in accordance with cl 6.2 of the GRLEP.
The Proposed Development is subject to the provisions of the Housing SEPP which provide development standards which override those in the GRLEP.
The Site is subject to a maximum height of buildings (HOB) development standard of 21 m pursuant to the Height of Buildings Map referred to in cl 4.3 of GRLEP 2021. However, the Affordable Housing provisions of the Housing SEPP permits a HOB up to 27.3 m: s 18(3) Housing SEPP. The Proposed Development exceeds the HOB development standard as follows:
27.4 m in height excluding the lift core; or
28.7 m including the lift core.
The Applicant relies on, and the Council accepts, a cl 4.6 Variation Request prepared by BMA Urban filed at Tab 11 of the Class 1 Application. The Court is satisfied that the applicant’s written request seeking to justify the contravention of the development standard in s 18 of the Housing SEPP has adequately addressed the matters required to be demonstrated by cl 4.6(3) of the GRLEP.
The Site is subject to a maximum floor space ratio of 2:1 on the Floor Space Ratio Map referred to in cl 4.4 of the GRLEP however the Affordable Housing provisions of the Housing SEPP permits a bonus allowing a maximum allowable FSR of 2.6:1. The Proposed Development proposes a compliant FSR of 2.17:1 as depicted in Dwg A-5000 Issue S.
The parties rely on condition 67 to satisfy the terms of s 21(1)(b) of the Housing SEPP requiring that for a period of at least 15 years commencing on the day the occupation certificate is issued for the development:
the development will include the affordable housing component required for the development under ss 16, 17 or 18; and
the affordable housing component will be managed by a registered community housing provider.
The Site is located within the Georges River Catchment: s 6.1 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 (BC SEPP). Accordingly, the terms of Ch 6 of the BC SEPP require satisfaction of a number of jurisdictional prerequisites relating to the impacts of the Proposed Development on water quality, aquatic ecology, flooding and recreation and public access to and around foreshores without adverse impact on natural waterbodies, watercourses, wetlands or riparian vegetation. Similarly, cl 6.3 of the GRLEP 2021 in relation to stormwater management, requires satisfaction that the development—