Council Against Land Owner

Mr Rodney Dawson acted to defend a prosecution brought by the Council against a land owner for demolishing a building without consent. If convicted, the land owner could have faced substantial fines. The defence to the prosecution was that the act of demolishing a building was not development requiring consent, but rather it was prohibited development and the defendant had been wrongly charged. The Court upheld the defence and dismissed the charges and ordered costs to be paid by the Council. Leave to appeal was refused.