Australia
Pridel Investments Pty. Ltd. v. Coffs Harbour City Council
Jurisdiction: Australia
Side A: Pridel Investments Pty. Ltd (Corporation)
Side B: Coffs Harbour City Council (Government)
Core objectives: Permissions to develop in an area subject to coastal flood risk
Summary
This case dealt with the Coffs Harbour City Council's rejection of Pridel Investments' application to develop a 39-lot subdivision. The city council's grounds for rejection included unacceptably high flooding risk, failure to consider various climate change impacts in accordance with state and national coastal and climate policy, and sustainable development principles as required by local planning program—the Our Living City Settlement Strategy. The court noted that the plans for construction assumed a 100-year useful of life for the subsdivision, but relied on several assumptions about how well existing dunes and other features of the location would withstand climate change. It also characterized the plan as impermissible "urban sprawl along the coast" and highlighted as a "fatal flaw" the site's lack of any alternative means of emergency vehicle access to the site.Case documents
from the Grantham Research Institute
from the Grantham Research Institute
