Gray v Sartor

The full judgement of Justice Nicola Pain in the Land and Environemnt Court in Gray v The Minister for Planning is now available on the web.

The Judge found that the Director-General failed fully take ecological sustainable development into account, in particular the principle of intergenerational equity (see part 126 of the judgement) and the precautionary principle (see part 135 of the judgement) when he decided that the environmental assessment of Centennial was adequate.

Parts 112, 113 and 114 of the judgement are interesting. It highlights that the Minister for Planning was trying to argue that he didn't have to apply the public interest in the context of ESD principles! What a joke!

The bottom line (almost literally) is "That the view formed by the Director-General on 23 August 2006 that the environmental assessment lodged by Centennial Hunter Pty Ltd in respect of the Anvil Hill Project adequately addressed the Director-General’s requirements is void and without effect."