City appeals court decision

The City of Albany has launched an appeal against a court decision last month, which found Cuscuna Nominees not guilty of breaching the City’s Town Planning Scheme during the construction of Bayonet Head Shopping Centre.

The criminal case was initially heard in the Albany Magistrate’s Court and is now expected to head to the Supreme Court for alleged criminal breaches of the planning scheme, including building 14 shops instead of 10.

The Bayonet Head Shopping Centre has been open since January last year and a Woolworths supermarket is the only business operating after it was granted temporary occupancy.

City planning and development services executive director Dale Putland confirmed the legal move.

“The City has commenced an appeal against the magistrate’s decision in the Supreme Court and the appeal will be determined in due course,” he said.

The City would not reveal the cost to ratepayers of both the appeal case and the initial prosecution, or the grounds on which it was appealing.

However, according to Cuscuna Nominees managing director Sam Cuscuna, the City had already been ordered to pay $10,000 of Cuscuna’s court costs.

Cuscuna Nominees managing director Sam Cuscuna said the decision to appeal by the City was “malicious”.

“During any building process, changes to the plans are made,” he said. “The magistrate had some sense to find us not guilty in the first place.”

To add to the legal tangle, Mr Cuscuna said a Terry White franchisee was suing the company because they were unable to open.

The City and Cuscuna Nominees are also tied up in a State Administrative Tribunal case, with the next hearing expected in August.