John Ware (led by Damien O’Brien KC and leading Patrick Nevard) represented the respondent, instructed by Council of the City of Gold Coast.
The applicants sought special leave to appeal from the Court of Appeal decision in Sullivan v Council of the City of Gold Coast [2026] QCA 105. That decision had upheld the Planning and Environment Court’s approval of an “other change” application increasing the height of an apartment building from seven storeys to nine, above the 23 metre height overlay. The only ground was that the Court of Appeal wrongly held, in refusing leave on Ground 4, that the “reasonable amenity expectations of nearby residents” under specific outcome 3.3.2.1(9)(c) of City Plan (one component of the “Height Uplift Provisions”) was not an issue the primary judge had to determine. The respondents contended that the issue was not raised in the applicant’s own list of issues, was in substance decided, and lacked utility and general importance.
Special leave was refused on the basis that the application did not raise any point of principle and any appeal, if special leave to appeal were granted, had insufficient prospects of success to warrant leave. Further, it was not in the interests of the administration of justice, either generally or in this case, for leave to be granted.
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