VICVicSC

S.S. Constructions Pty. Ltd. v Ventura Motors P/L; Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works; The Mayor, Councillors and Citizens of The City of Nunawading & The Minister For Local Government. [1963] VicSC 79

austlii:vic/VicSC/1963/79

VicSC|1963-11-06|Before: Ventura Motors P

At a glance

AI case summary

Result

appellant. Declaration granted that the Council had power to grant the permit to a non-owner, and that the Minister's direction was ultra vires and of no effect

Key principles

Where a local authority has power to grant a permit for the erection of a building, and the statute conferring that power does not expressly or impliedly prohibit the grant of a...
The power of a local authority to grant a building permit is not conditioned upon the applicant having a proprietary interest in the land; the statutory scheme is directed to the...
The requirement that a building permit applicant must own the land would be a substantial fetter on the power to grant permits and would require clear statutory language to be...
The fact that a building permit may be granted to a non-owner does not mean that the permittee thereby acquires any right to enter upon or use the land of another; the permit...

Issues before the court

Whether a local authority has power to grant a building permit to a person who does not own the land upon which the building is to be erected
Whether the Minister for Local Government had power to direct the Council to refuse the permit on the ground that the applicant was not the owner

Plain English Summary

A building company wanted to construct a building on land owned by someone else. The local council was happy to approve this, but the Minister for Local Government tried to block it, claiming that only landowners could get building permits. The Supreme Court of Victoria ruled that the law didn't say you had to own the land to get a building permit—the rules were about making sure buildings were safe and properly constructed, not about who owned the land. Therefore, the Minister couldn't stop the council from granting the permit.

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Judgment (2 paragraphs)

[1]

S.S. Constructions Pty. Ltd. v Ventura Motors P/L; Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works; The Mayor, Councillors and Citizens of The City of Nunawading & The Minister For Local Government. [1963] VicSC 79 (6 November 1963)

[2]