Our Services

PLANNING

If you are a Developer, Council, Resident, Architect or Town Planner, and if you want to take the right road with your planning law problem, the best option is to use the Law Society Accredited Specialist in Local Government & Planning Law - Mallik Rees.

As advisers to Local Government for fifty years, and with one of the State's few Accredited Specialists in Local Government & Planning Law, we have extensive experience in Planning Law. We are well experienced in liaising with Local Government Departments, Town Planners, Surveyors, Architects and other Specialists. We understand the concepts and issues to this complex area and are well equipped to advise and assist in almost any type of planning matter.

We can advise you about:

• multiple occupancies and multi occupancy subdivisions;
• objection to prescribed development standards (such as set-back requirements, height restrictions and minimum area requirements);
• subdivisions and consolidations;
• re zoning applications;
• development applications;
• third party objections;
• strata title subdivisions;
• community title subdivisions;
• drafting public positive covenants as may be required by council;
• development Agreement

We also advise on matters such as the reasonableness of a council condition and the prospects of appeal, the implications of conditional consents and staged developments, existing use provisions and the rights and liabilities under those provisions, rights and liabilities of extractive industries under SEPP 37, and on applications to modify conditions of an existing development consent.

There is clearly some complexity to planning law. Getting it right the first time will save you. If you are considering a development, consult both us and your specialist advisers before an Application is lodged so that pitfalls can be avoided by early advice. If you are contemplating an Appeal, see LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPEALS.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPEALS

Sometimes, all the planning in the world is not quite enough, and an appeal is required. With over 65 years combined experience between Rob Mallik and Peter Rees and as one of the few firms in the state with an Accredited Specialist in Local Government & Planning Law, we believe we are well equipped to handle any type of Local Government Appeal.

In most cases, Rob Mallik and Peter Rees appear personally at hearings thus acting as Advocate and avoiding the added cost of Barrister. Of course, when the need arises we employ only specialist barristers to ensure a cost effective service to our client.

We handle all types of Local Government litigation including all manner of appeals, Freedom of Information requests, applications for declarations, injunctions, or compensation for failure or delay.

See Mallik Rees prior to commencing your appeal; as Accredited Specialists we provide a cost effective service with a commitment to client satisfaction.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

The protection of the environment is a major community concern. Legislation designed to achieve this aim is complex, because it must balance the interests of numerous parties. A failure to comply with the legislation can lead to penalties of $1,100,000.00 for corporations or $250,000.00 and seven years gaol for individuals. Increasingly, directors are being made liable for acts of their corporations, and sometimes financiers and lenders can also be at risk by being forced to pay for site remediation work on mortgaged property, especially "orphaned sites".

We have one of the very few Law Society Accredited Specialists in Local Government & Planning Law in the State. Our experience in environmental law equips us to advise directors and companies on their liabilities under the relevant environmental laws. Specifically, we assist in the legal audit of a company's environmental risks (which involves liaison with other relevant experts), advise present occupiers of sites of their rights and liabilities when they are served with clean-up notices (under legislation such as the Environmental Hazardous Chemical Act and the Protection of the Environment Operations Act), or give preliminary advice to prosecutors and defendants prior to charges being laid.

If legal action is taken, we represent defendants charged with breaches of an environmental protection law (such as the Protection of the Environment Operations Act), advise clients on their rights of appeal and conduct such appeals against decisions of authorities to renew or grant licences.

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