Planning and environment – proposed change to development application for ethanol plant – where changes were operational in nature – whether changes resulted in a substantially different form of development – whether changes were minor
Facts: This was an application by the Co-Respondent developer for orders that would permit the appeal to proceed on the basis of an amended proposal.
The proposal was for an ethanol plant to be located in the middle of a sugar cane farming area. The plant would process 1 million tonnes of sugarcane per year to produce ethanol and other by-products, including dunder and ash.
The proposed amendments involved operational changes to the proposal, being changes to the access and vehicular circulation arrangements, a reduction in the height of the boiler stack, changes to the water management system, changes to the location of various components of the infrastructure on the site, identification of the cooling tower release points, and changes to the landscaping for the development.
The task of the Court was to determine whether the change was a minor change within the meaning of the legislation. Of relevance was the question of whether the changes resulted in a substantially different form of development.
Council's attitude to the proposed change was to abide the order of the Court. The Appellant was also prepared to abide the order of the Court, subject to bringing to the Court's attention concerns it had about whether the applicant had properly explained certain changes in relation to the production and storage of dunder.
Decision: The Court held that:
- When the matter was looked at broadly and fairly, the changes neither individually nor collectively resulted in a substantially different form of development.
- The proposed plans lodged with the application obviously did not descend to detailed design. There had been some degree of development of the design as the matter had progressed. That was not unusual.
- The changes were, by and large, of an operational nature and did not change the nature of the proposal.
- The proposed changes were within the expression "minor change" for the purposes of the legislation.
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