Hunter Community Environment Centre Inc v Minister for Planning

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

New South Wales Land and Environment Court

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

09/05/2012

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Mitigation

SUBJECT MATTER

Coal-fired and gas-fired power station

REVIEW TYPE

Judicial review

SUMMARY

The Hunter Community Environment Centre (HCEC) challenged the decision of the NSW Minister for Planning to approve Delta Electricity's application to rehabilitate the Munmorah Power Station. The station would produce a significant volume of greenhouse gases. Expert evidence suggested that the old technology meant that the power station would not be very efficient. The Department had considered the impacts resulting from the power stations' greenhouse gas emissions and had recommended to the Minister that they could be satisfactorily managed through a condition to require Delta Electricity to minismise emissions. HCEC argued that the Department's statement in regard to Delta Electricity's environmental assessment was inadequate and as a result the Minister's decision was invalid. The Court held that under the grounds for judicial review specified, the findings were open to the Minister, and rejected the applicants submissions.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Hunter Community Environment Centre Inc v Minister for Planning [2012] NSWLEC 195