Assignment task:
Terrific Turkey Farms Pty Ltd ('TT') lodged a development application and accompanying statement of environmental effects with Shellharbour City Council ('the Council') for a new poultry farm to be located on land zoned RU1 Primary Production under Shellharbour Local Environmental Plan 2013 (NSW) ('the LEP'). TT's poultry farm will breed turkeys to sell them commercially for meat. No turkeys will be slaughtered at TT's poultry farm. It will accommodate 25,000 turkeys that are fed with food brought in from off site. TT's poultry farm will be located 400 metres away from an existing poultry farm (owned by another company) that breeds chickens for sale. There is a wetland that is located 50 metres away from TT's proposed poultry farm and a residential zone located 800 metres away that adjoins the RU1 Primary Production zone. The poultry farm will result in 40 new jobs for the local area. The Council published notice of TT's development application and its accompanying statement of environmental effects on its website and exhibited those documents on its website for 10 days. It also placed a board notifying about the development application at the traffic lights on a main road located about 1km away from TT's proposed poultry farm. No other steps were taken by the Council regarding notification of the development application. The Council granted development consent to TT's development application for the poultry farm on 9 August 2023. Kobie lives in the residential zone located 800 metres away from TT's proposed poultry farm. Kobie is concerned about the potential for odour impacts on the residential zone, particularly given that residents already have problems with odour from the existing chicken farm located nearby to TT's site. Kobie thinks the Council should have refused the development given the zone objectives. Kobie is also concerned about increased traffic with truck movements to and from TT's proposed poultry farm and that run off from the poultry farm will pollute the nearby wetland. Kobie is very upset as she did not hear anything about the development before the Council approved it and wanted to have a say. She thinks that Council was overly concerned with economic matters, such as new business and jobs in the area, and should have been more concerned about the environmental impacts and views of residents.
The matters the Council is required to consider in determining the development application related to the concerns Kobie has raised. Furthermore, advise on the relevance of the zone objectives in the decision-making process.
Whether Kobie would be able to challenge the development consent in the Land and Environment Court of NSW. Make sure you explain what type/s of proceedings (if any) could be used to challenge the development consent.