ENVIRONMENT | TheBrief

environmental, land, climate

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Land valuation for renewables projects – important case update

Renewable energy developers should be aware of a recent Queensland case concerning the land valuation methodology applicable to renewables projects in Queensland under the Land Valuation Act 2010, which has ramifications for land tax and local government rates applying to renewables projects. The Queensland Court of Appeal recently handed down a decision concerning the proper valuation methodology under the Land Valuation Act 2010 (LVA) to be applied to Neoen’s 500MW Western

By Mark Cowan & Grace Chiari

Land valuation for renewables projects – important case update

Queensland Productivity Commission puts EPBC Act reforms under the microscope

After inquiring into the declining productivity in the construction industry and making a number of recommendations aimed at land use regulation and planning reforms, building regulations and workplace health and safety regulations, the Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC) will now turn its focus to the suite of federal environmental protection reforms passed in 2025. The Queensland Government has directed the QPC to undertake a public inquiry into the recent reforms to t

By Wendy Evans, Nicole Besgrove & Alysha Misura

Singleton Station water licence overturned: implications for government and businesses in the NT

On 5 August 2026, the High Court of Australia decided a challenge brought by traditional owners to a decision granting a substantial groundwater extraction licence for farming purposes at Singleton Station in the Northern Territory. Fortune Agribusiness Funds Management Pty Ltd is the lessee of Singleton Station, situated in the Western Davenport region of the Northern Territory between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. The Station is located above significant groundwater rese

By George Roussos

Australia’s National Environmental Standards are here: What proponents need to know

On 19 August 2026, the Australian Government made the first four National Environmental Standards (Standards) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act). They carry practical implications for proponents across energy, resources, infrastructure and other sectors. The Standards are now in force as legislative instruments. However, they will not apply to environmental assessments and approval decisions until the new approval tests co

By Amelia Prokuda & Duyen Mai

NSW Supreme Court rules complex modelling evidence inadmissible as insufficient reasoning provided

The NSW Supreme Court has recently found that joint expert reports on hydrological modelling were inadmissible on the basis that the reasoning process was insufficiently clear. The proceedings involved a challenge by property owners on a flood plain to a determination by the Minister of their water entitlement under ‘replacement floodplain harvesting (regulated river) access licences’ under the Water Management Act 2000. Such licences entitle a licence holder to use a particu

By Jennifer Hughes

The Low and Mid-Rise housing reforms: what will it take to turn planning reform into housing delivery?

The NSW Government's Low and Mid-Rise (LMR) Housing reforms represent one of the most significant planning interventions in recent years. Introduced in response to the state's housing shortage, the reforms are designed to encourage more housing diversity in well-located urban areas by permitting a broader range of housing types, including terraces, townhouses and apartment buildings, near transport hubs and strategic centres. The reforms have generated strong debate across go

By Dennis Loether

VicGrid’s Social Value Guidelines become mandatory for renewable energy projects from mid-2027

VicGrid and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) have released updated Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines for Renewable Energy and Transmission Projects, setting out the Victorian Government's minimum expectations for how renewable energy, storage and transmission developers engage with communities, Traditional Owners, landholders and neighbours, and how they should create social value and economic benefits through their projects in V

By Meg Lee & Natalie Bannister

Land & Environment Court decides on ‘farm buildings’

On 22 January 2026, the Land and Environment Court handed down its decision in Nagra v Coffs Harbour City Council [2026] 1028 (Nagra), finding polytunnels to be an integral part of raspberry growing as a form of ‘intensive plant agriculture’ on the subject site, and not ‘farm buildings’. The proceedings involved a Class 1 appeal against a development control order (DCO) given by Coffs Harbour City Council (Council) which required the applicants to cease construction of severa

By Catherine Morton

Managing environmental liability in leases and contracts: lessons in drafting from the Court of Appeal

The NSW Court of Appeal’s (NSWCA’s) recent decision in The Trust Company Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia [2026] NSWCA 90 serves as a timely reminder: if you want a remediation clause to deliver a specific environmental outcome, you need to say so expressly. The Court dismissed an appeal seeking approximately $20 million in damages for asbestos remediation costs based on the words the parties chose (and did not choose) to include in the relevant lease and deed, underscoring th

Samantha Daly & Julia Green