Environmental Courts in the 21 st Century Environment The Honourable Justice Dennis A Cowdroy OAM Land and Environment Court New South Wales
Australia
Sydney Harbour The natural and built environment of Sydney Harbour
The Legal System New South Wales High Court of Australia Supreme Court of NSW Court of Appeal Supreme Court of NSW Land and Environment Court of NSW Compensation Court of NSW Industrial Relations Commission of NSW
Sydney Harbour The natural and built environment of Sydney Harbour
Composition of the Court 7 judges 10 commissioners qualified as: Town planners Environmental scientists Land valuers Architects or engineers, or Natural resource managers
Jurisdiction of the Court Classes 1-31 3 involve merits review of decisions Class 4 involves judicial review of government decisions, to make sure they have been made lawfully Classes 5-75 7 involve criminal prosecution for environmental offences
Jurisdiction of the Court Over 50 enactments provide the Court with its subject matter jurisdiction Major areas of the Court s work include: Development Urban and rural planning Pollution and other environmental offences Heritage Fauna Flora National Parks Water resources
Development Central Sydney planning Sydney Central Business District
Development - coastline Byron Bay, New South Wales
Environmental Offences Oil discharge into the waters of Sydney Harbour by the Laura D Amato
Environmental Offences Unauthorised clearing of natural vegetation Snowy Mountains, New South Wales
Heritage Adaptive Reuse Former General Post Office of Sydney now the Westin Hotel
Heritage Protection Colonial farm house, Campbelltown near Sydney in 1995 before development of site
and Development The site after development following approval by a local authority
Protection of Australian Native fauna Rainbow Lorikeet Frilled neck lizard Platypus
Protection of Australian Native flora Banksia Gymea Lily
National Parks The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains World Heritage List
National Parks Sawn Rocks Mt Kaputar National Park, New South Wales
National Parks Carrington Falls
National Parks
Innovative Court procedures Open standing Expert evidence Concurrent evidence Court-appointed experts On-site hearings Remediation orders
Case Study - Water
Comparative Rainfall Continent Africa Asia AUSTRALIA Europe N America S America Average Rainfall (mm) 690 600 465 640 660 1,630 Average runoff (mm) 260 290 57 250 340 930 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
River systems of Australia
Rivers of Australia Wetlands in New South Wales
Australian Water Fund Three new programmes: Water Smart Australia grants for technological investment to improve water usage efficiency Improved monitoring and measuring of water usage WELS Scheme water efficiency labelling on domestic appliances
Lake Eyre Lake Eyre salt lake area 9,500 sq km
River systems in New South Wales
River systems in Australia Wetlands in the Murray-Darling
New South Wales legislation Water Management Acts 2000 and 2004 New water access licences issued which are separate from land rights Allocations of water for the environment Water access licences can be traded Preservation of catchments
Rivers of New South Wales
Rivers of New South Wales The Clarence River in northern New South Wales
Rivers of New South Wales Woodford Dam Blue Mountains, west of Sydney
Environmental Courts for the 21 st Century Environment