The Planning and Development Amendment (Metropolitan Region Scheme) Bill 2024 (Amendment Bill) was recently introduced into Parliament.

The recently passed Planning and Development Amendment Act 2023 (Amendment Act) introduces a new system for development approval of ‘significant development’. These provisions are anticipated to come into force on 1 March 2024.

This recent Surpreme Court decision highlights the importance of protecting individual amenity and sets a clearer benchmark for future cases involving industrial emissions and their impact on local communities.

At a time when the State is centralising and, in some respects, relaxing planning laws, a recent Supreme Court decision is an important reminder that the courts will place limits on the power of decision making bodies.

A recent decision from the United Kingdom Supreme Court has brought nuisance as a cause of action for environmental damage into the spotlight. In Jalla v Shell International Trading and Shipping Company, ongoing environmental damage from an oil spill off the coast of Nigeria was not held to be an “ongoing nuisance”.