The NSW Land and Environment Court is a specialist Court dealing with matters such as development approvals, compulsory purchase compensation, prosecutions for environmental offences and other planning and land use issues, including civil enforcement proceedings, as illustrated in a recent case.
Bronger v Greenway Health Centre Pty Ltd t/a Greenway Plaza Pharmacy (2022)
Bronger v Greenway Health Centre Pty Ltd t/a Greenway Plaza Pharmacy (2022) concerned whether the operation of a pharmacy in a medical centre in the City of Fairfield local government area was in breach of a complying development certificate (CDC) because they were operating as a retail shop in a business zone. The pharmacy is part of a medical complex within the Greenway Plaza, which contains offices for various health professionals.
Civil enforcement proceedings were commenced by the owners of the pharmacy chain Chemistworks, who operate a number of premises in NSW, to stop the operation of the pharmacy. It was alleged that the use was in breach of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act (1979) and compliance with its CDC.
The Court concluded that it had not been established that the pharmacy constituted an impermissible retail pharmacy. It also rejected an argument that the use of the pharmacy constituted ‘independent’ use. The dispensing of medication in a pharmacy which results in the sale of medicine, does not meet the description of a shop. The person commencing proceedings bears the burden of proving the use is prohibited rather than being ancillary to the approved use in the CDC.
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