Suburban Blue Print Pty Ltd v Hobsons Bay City Council

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

23/07/2010

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Adaptation

SUBJECT MATTER

Sea level rise

REVIEW TYPE

Merits review

SUMMARY

VCAT heard an appeal of a council's decision not to grant a permit to build two dwellings, in part on the grounds that the proposed site might be vulnerable to coastal hazards and inundation arising from possible future rise in sea level due to climate change. VCAT drew attention to the large building stock in the area that would be subject to inundation due to low floor levels and that if the applicant wanted to build a single dwelling the prooponent would not require a permit and would not need to comply with the coastal climate change planning provisions at all. VCAT found that the absence of more specific overlays or assessments of appropriate minimum floor levels indicated that the site was not particularly vulnerable. VCAT ordered that a permit should be issued subject to the conditions including that the floor levels comply with recommendations of a Coastal Hazard Vulnerability Assessment report.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Suburban Blue Print Pty Ltd v Hobsons Bay City Council [2010] VCAT 1272