Focus: Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2012
Services: Property & Projects
Industry Focus: Property

The controversial proposal to transform the Queensland Planning & Environment Court from a jurisdiction where parties bear their own costs to one where costs follow the event has been abandoned by the Newman Government.

Whilst the Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 introduced into the Queensland Parliament on 13 September 2012 proposed this landmark change to the costs regime, strong opposition from peak industry bodies, including the Queensland Environmental Law Association (QELA) and the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), led to a significant revision before the legislation was passed on 13 November 2012.

Grounds for opposing the change included that it would deter legitimate appeals, favour wealthy corporate entities that could afford the risk of an adverse costs order, and clog up the Court system by adding lengthy arguments about costs to the appeal process.

The Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2012 (Qld) (SPOLA) instead leaves the question of costs to the discretion of the Court, but introduces a range of factors the Court may have regard to in deciding whether to impose an order for costs, including:

  1. the relative success of the parties in the proceeding;
  2. commercial interests;
  3. whether a party commenced or participated in the proceeding for an improper purpose or without reasonable prospects of success; and
  4. whether a party has acted unreasonably.

The SPOLA amendments will only apply to proceedings brought after its commencement, which is likely to occur within the next couple of weeks.

At DibbsBarker, our Planning & Environment Team are available to guide you through the development assessment and appeal process to optimise your prospects of a successful outcome that meets your commercial objectives.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.