Steps to follow
Planning and Environment Court - civil
Step 1 - File a notice of appeal
A Notice of Appeal must be filed at the registry and the appropriate fee paid. Time limits apply for starting appeals in the Planning and Environment Court.
Step 2 - Serve a copy of the notice of appeal
The requirements for service are different for different types of appeal. They are stated in the relevant legislation. For example, if you are a submitter who wishes to appeal under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, against a decision approving a development application made by a developer, you must give written notice of the appeal to the Chief Executive of the Department of Infrastructure and Planning, the assessment manager (usually the council), any referral agency (usually a government agency) and the applicant for approval (the developer) (see s 482(1)(b) of the SPA).
If you are an applicant for a development approval who wishes to appeal, under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, against a decision on your application, then you must give written notice to the Chief Executive of the Department of Infrastructure and Planning, the assessment manager, any concurrence agency, any principal submitter whose submission has not been withdrawn and any advice agency treated as a submitter and whose submission has not been withdrawn (s 482(1)(a) of the SPA). There are different requirements for other proceedings.
If the person given the notice is not the respondent or a co-respondent then the notice to them must state not only the grounds of appeal, but also that the person may, within 10 business days after the notice is given, elect to become a co-respondent to the appeal by filing in the court a notice of election in the approved form (see s 482(3)(b) of the SPA).
There are time limits for giving the notice.
Step 3 - Apply for a directions order
The party with the onus of proof (usually the developer) must apply for a directions order within three months of the notice of appeal or originating application being filed. The application for a directions order (see Form 4 – Application in Pending Proceeding) is filed in the court and is set for hearing before a judge on a specific day.
Step 4 - Directions hearing
At the directions hearing, the court will issue a directions order which sets out the steps the parties must take and the time for them to be taken. A draft order is usually agreed beforehand between the parties and handed up to the Judge.
Step 5 - Dispute Resolution Plan
Directions orders usually include a Dispute Resolution Plan. That may be a 'without prejudice' conference chaired by the ADR Registrar or other means of dispute resolution. See "Appointments for a Without Prejudice Conference" in "Useful Practice Hints".
Step 6 - Review hearing
All parties are required to attend hearings including review hearings.
At a review hearing, the parties will be expected to tell the court:
- whether they have complied with the previous directions order
- if they have not complied, why and when the outstanding matters will be attended to
- whether the case will be ready for the final hearing.
A special Pre-Callover Review hearing precedes a callover hearing.
Step 7 - Callover hearing
A callover is where a judge allocates fixed hearing dates for those cases which are due to be heard in a particular sittings and which have satisfied the court at the Pre-Callover Review hearing the case is ready to proceed. The callover is usually held a few weeks prior to the start of the sittings. For example, there might be many cases set down for hearing in Brisbane during February. At the callover, in January, the judge will set specific dates, in February, when each case is to be heard.
Step 8 - Final hearing
If all steps in the directions order have been followed, the final hearing will determine the result of the case.