Environment and Planning

Overview

Environmental and planning law operates across the full life of an asset: project approvals, transaction due diligence, and the obligations and incidents that arise during ongoing operations. The legal questions are technical and the consequences may be long lasting.

Thomsons advises project proponents, landowners, developers and government bodies on approval strategy, environmental regulation and land access: from site acquisition and planning consent through to compliance, enforcement response and remediation.

The practice is grounded in sector knowledge across Energy and Resources, Infrastructure, Agribusiness and Real Estate. Regulatory systems in these sectors are well understood: where exposure arises, how decision-makers exercise discretion and what engagement strategies produce defined outcomes.

For government clients, advice covers statutory decision-making, planning reform and infrastructure delivery within complex regulatory frameworks.

Areas of expertise

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Contamination risk, remediation obligations and liability allocation demand careful structuring in operational settings and in transactions. Advice covers environmental due diligence for acquisitions and divestments, regulator engagement in complex site assignments, and the allocation of cost recovery and indemnification obligations between parties. Experience spans industrial, mining and manufacturing contexts, including advising receivers and managers securing long-term environmental licences during restructuring.

Regulatory investigations, clean-up notices and prosecutions require an evidence-based response. The regulatory position is assessed, the strongest available defences identified and a strategy developed that protects commercial interests and contains exposure. Where settlement is the right outcome, enforceable undertakings are negotiated to achieve durable resolution. The firm has defended industrial and mining clients in environmental prosecutions before specialist environmental courts.

Aboriginal cultural heritage and Native Title obligations apply across most significant project development, land access and infrastructure delivery in Australia. Advice covers negotiation of Indigenous Land Use Agreements, coordination of heritage surveys and management of consultation and consent processes with Traditional Owners and relevant authorities. The firm has secured cultural heritage approvals and negotiated Indigenous land agreements across multi-jurisdiction infrastructure corridors: work that requires both legal precision and sustained relationship management.

Project proponents and affected landowners are both advised in compulsory acquisition processes. For proponents: statutory processes managed, access arrangements negotiated, compensation frameworks navigated. For landowners: entitlements assessed, compensation pursued and access rights protected. The firm has acted for landowners in acquisition assignments connected to major transport and infrastructure projects, securing outcomes that reflect the full extent of legal entitlement.

Rezoning processes, development applications and planning appeals are managed across all major Australian jurisdictions. Conditions are negotiated with planning authorities, and clients are represented in tribunals and courts in contested assignments. The practice spans residential, mixed-use, industrial and infrastructure development, including environmental approvals for coastal developments and associated land tenure transitions.

Energy, mining and infrastructure proponents are advised on state and Commonwealth approval regimes including environmental impact assessment and approvals under federal environmental legislation. Assessment pathways are structured, stakeholder engagement managed and regulatory coordination organised to support timely delivery. Sector depth across Energy and Resources and Infrastructure means the commercial drivers that shape project timelines, and the regulatory variables that determine outcomes, are well understood.

Waste and recycling operators, local government bodies and industry participants are advised on licensing, compliance and regulatory reform affecting waste streams. The firm has assisted operators and councils to identify compliant pathways and manage obligations as the policy environment changes, including advising local government consortia on regulatory and funding responses to export restrictions affecting recyclable materials.

Agricultural, industrial and infrastructure clients are advised on water licensing, allocation rights and water trading. Compliance is managed under regulated river basin and groundwater regimes, with advice on the transfer and restructuring of water access entitlements across irrigation districts. The practice sits at the intersection of Environment and Planning and Agribusiness, sectors where resource scarcity and regulatory reform are generating increasing legal complexity.

Our experience

Lendlease – Barangaroo South, Sydney

Provided planning law advice across the final stages of development within Barangaroo South, one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects, valued in excess of A$11 billion. Harshane Kahagalle has advised Lendlease since the project’s inception: securing state significant development approvals, managing the rezoning and regulatory amendments required across the life of the precinct, and defending multiple environmental and judicial review challenges. The project was developed on a former highly contaminated gasworks site and included delivery of the Crown Sydney Integrated Resort through an Unsolicited Proposal process with the NSW Government.

Lendlease – One Circular Quay, Sydney

Planning and approval advice for one of Sydney’s most prominent and expensive residential and hotel developments, overlooking Sydney Harbour and housing the new Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Advice covers planning and approval requirements for the residential component and hotel component, as well as the practical delivery challenges of a project at this scale in a highly sensitive harbourfront context.

Verdant Earth Technologies – Redbank Power Station restart

Acting and advising Verdant Earth Technologies on facilitating the conversion and restart of Redbank Power Station as a near net-zero biomass generator. The project, before the Land and Environment Court, addresses grid stability and baseload power demand at a time of increasing pressure from the energy transition. Environmental groups have sought to join the proceedings, and the assignment raises significant questions about the regulatory balance between energy demand and green energy policy objectives.

Licella Holdings – Advanced recycling facility, Altona, Victoria

Acting for Licella on the development and construction of Australia’s first commercial advanced recycling facility, processing 20,000 tonnes of waste plastic per year back to recycled oil. Acting as counsel across all aspects of the project, including EPA environmental approvals, long-term lease and site services agreement negotiation, and all development and construction-related assignments. The project sits at the intersection of waste regulation, industrial development and Australia’s circular economy agenda.

Revelop Building & Developments – Plumpton Central redevelopment, Sydney

Providing strategic advice and written advocacy for the modification of a shopping centre consent for this A$200 million-plus development, including representation before the responsible consent authority and management of objector concerns throughout the approval process.

Settlers Rise Pty Ltd - Compulsory acquisition, Land and Environment Court of NSW

Acted for the developer of a A$100 million residential aged care facility in a compensation appeal arising from the partial acquisition of the facility by Transport for NSW. The assignment required detailed analysis of compensation entitlements and specialist planning and acquisition expertise. Thomsons took carriage from another firm when the client required specialist capability to manage the risks of the proceedings.

Infrastructure NSW – The Cutaway, Barangaroo, Sydney

Acting for Infrastructure NSW on the acquisition, development and implementation of The Cutaway, a A$250 million state significant development forming part of the Barangaroo project, comprising an underground and above-ground pedestrian walkway linking the Sydney CBD to Barangaroo Reserve. Advice covers compulsory acquisition strategy, licensing arrangements to facilitate construction, and negotiations with NSW Crown Land, the City of Sydney Council and Transport for NSW to achieve a coordinated all-of-government approach.

Free TV Australia and TX Australia – Critical broadcasting infrastructure, Sydney

Providing planning and regulatory advice to facilitate continued operation of a critical broadcasting asset classified under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (Cth), in the face of NSW Government pressure for high-density residential development near the transmitter tower. The assignment required balancing national broadcasting obligations against state planning objectives.

Keyton Holdings – University of Wollongong Innovation Campus Health & Wellbeing Precinct Advising on planning approvals and development advice for a project integrating a residential aged care facility within a university campus, itself incorporating a childcare facility to promote the health and wellbeing of aged care residents. The project required navigating intersecting land use, planning and regulatory frameworks across education and aged care.

Major mixed-use riverfront redevelopment Brisbane, Queensland

Providing planning and development advice for the transformation of a former high-profile industrial site into a mixed-use riverfront precinct in the heart of Brisbane, delivering more than 4,000 homes. The project is one of several significant mandates in Queensland as Brisbane prepares to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

Receivers and managers – Environmental licensing during restructuring

Acting for receivers and managers of manufacturing facilities on securing long-term environmental licences during restructuring, enabling continued operation pending transaction or wind-down. Work of this kind sits at the intersection of environmental and insolvency law, requiring coordination across regulators and insolvency practitioners to protect operational continuity.

Multi-jurisdiction infrastructure corridor – Indigenous land agreements and cultural heritage. Negotiating Indigenous land agreements and securing cultural heritage approvals across a multi-jurisdiction infrastructure corridor, coordinating consultation processes with multiple Traditional Owner groups and regulatory authorities across state and Commonwealth regimes. Work of this kind demands legal precision and sustained relationship management over extended project timelines.

Agribusiness clients – Water access entitlements, multiple irrigation districts

Advising on the acquisition, transfer and restructuring of water access entitlements across multiple irrigation districts, including compliance with regulated river basin requirements. Resource scarcity and regulatory reform in this area are generating increasing legal complexity, particularly where trading and reallocation intersect with environmental water obligations.

Overview

Areas of expertise

Contaminated land, pollution and remediation liability

Environmental enforcement and regulatory response

Native Title and cultural heritage

Compulsory acquisition and land access

Planning, development and land use approvals

Major project and infrastructure approvals

Waste and resource recovery

Water access and regulation

Our experience