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Planning and Environment

MacDonnells Law’s Planning and Environment team is committed to establishing a pathway for achieving desired outcomes, tailored to each client’s land use, development, environment and planning needs. We offer forward thinking, strategic and commercial advice, and work closely with our clients to navigate them through the complex planning and environment legislative regime.

Working for clients across the private and public sectors, and with strong-relationships with third party consultants and experts, our team is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive, tailored advice focused on achieving each client’s development outcome while balancing project specific and commercial constraints.

Our team works with private and Government clients on both front-end and back-end matters, including strategic advice on projects, property transactions, land resumption, environmental and planning compliance and litigation. Our work includes:

Experience

  • Advising a large scale industrial developer on resumption by a large South East Queensland Local Government with respect to the extent of land to be taken and compensation entitlements, including participation in the objections hearing and negotiating a change to the resumption extent to suit our client’s development needs.

  • Advising a large ports corporation in relation to the proposed Tropical North Queensland Global Tourism Hub and State Development Area considerations.

  • Providing advice to a regional Local Government regarding appropriate approval triggers and other matters in its draft Planning Scheme.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Application for a large religious institution to successfully re-enliven its lapsed development approval and have it reinstated by the Court.

  • Acting for large industrial waste developer in respect of complex environmental approval amendments and associated Land Court litigation.

  • Advising private and Government clients regarding infrastructure charges and conditions and preparing infrastructure agreements.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a self storage developer,  successfully overturning a large South East Queensland Council’s original decision to refuse the its development application for a self-storage warehouse and negotiating favourable approval conditions.

  • Acting for large scale timber harvesting corporation and successfully defending land clearing offence allegations in the Magistrates Court in respect of land protected under the Nature Conservation legislation.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a townhouse developer, successfully overturning Council’s original decision to refuse developer’s development application for large scale townhouse development. Acting successfully in a subsequent appeal by Council in the Court of Appeal and successfully upholding the original Court decision and obtaining approval for our client.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a childcare and residential developer and successfully overturning Council’s original decision to refuse our client’s development application for a mixed-use multiple dwelling and childcare centre proposal.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a large North Queensland Local Government, successfully defending Council’s decision to refuse an application for extension of a currency period.

  • Acting in a Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a large South East Queensland Local Government, successfully defending Council’s decision to refuse an application for residential development.

  • Providing strategic front end advice and acting in an Planning & Environment Court Appeal for a mixed use developer, successfully resolving the Appeal in relation to a mixed use development of a former gold course into residential, commercial, tourist park, educational establishment, retail and other possible uses as part of obtaining a Variation Approval.

  • Advising Local Governments and preparing statutory notices, including show cause and enforcement notices for alleged offences committed under, for example, the Building Act 1975 (Qld) and Planning Act 2016 (Qld), including for contraventions of conditions of development approvals and carrying out assessable development without the necessary development permits.

  • Acting for a variety of Local Governments in a number of Magistrates Court prosecutions for alleged offences committed under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld), Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld) and Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) for the purpose of seeking punitive penalties and rectification orders including be successfully obtaining relief by following Court hearings.

Areas of expertise

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