Earlier today (10 October) the court orders from the September 25 Land and Environment Court hearing of the dispute between MidCoast Council and LDF were placed on the Caselaw website. In August LDF changed its name back to Tea Garden Farms (TGF).
There were in fact two cases under consideration: MCC vs TGF and an appeal by TGF. These court orders were made "by consent" of both parties.
* TGF's appeal was dismissed.
* On the case MCC brought against TGF, TGF was ordered to pay all MCC's costs apart from staff costs.
Amongst other things, the court orders require TGF to "reinstate the Land to the condition or state of its landform as at 9 August 2014 and to a condition or state of native vegetation on the land as at 9 August 2014". This work needs to be completed by 31 December 2020.
To achieve this, TGF are required to use approved and qualified experts to undertake various surveys and produce reports by 30 March 2018. TGF must then prepare two schedules by 28 September 2018 concerning the scope of " Restoration in Respect of Works" and "Rehabilitation in Respect of Clearing" for MCC's approval. In the meantime TGF must install and maintain temporary erosion and sediment controls.
