Land and Environment Court gets more power

The NSW Government will introduce laws to give the Land and Environment Court the power to impose tough new sanctions on developers who breach their development conditions and damage the environment. The proposed amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 are in addition to tough new fines announced earlier this month, which will see maximum penalties for offences under the Act increase from $1 million to $5 million – the highest in Australia.? Planning Minister Pru Goward said the changes would take away the incentive for businesses or individuals to deliberately breach conditions and write off the fine. “The majority of businesses and individuals do the right thing – but for those that don’t, the Court can impose financial penalties, publicly name anyone found guilty, and also give the Court the power to target their profits, so paying a fine will no longer simply be seen as a cost of doing business,” Ms Goward said. The Court will have the power to force companies to pay for “name and shame” advertisements in the media, and for the clean up of sites where environmental damage has occurred.