Case Of Indecent Exposure

Newcastle Herald

Saturday October 8, 2005

By JASON GORDON Port Stephens Reporter

THE insurers of Port Stephens Council could be exposed to thousands of compensation claims worth tens of millions of dollars with the implications of a recent court judgement worse than first thought.

While the council fears a rush of residents keen to cash in on the judgement, the Local Government and Shires Association has warned that all councils could be exposed to the same financial disaster.

In the Court of Appeal last week, Port Stephens Council lost its appeal against a District Court ruling that found the council had failed to provide adequate information about aircraft noise to prospective home buyers.

The court awarded an average of $100,000 compensation, including interest, to each of four holiday cabin owners at Swan Bay, who argued the council didn't provide them with enough details about noise from Williamtown RAAF base.

Such information is traditionally provided to land buyers and builders through council zoning notifications known as section 149 certificates.

Port Stephens Council general manager Peter Gesling said yesterday the information contained in the certificates given to the Swan Bay complainants was mostly the same as that given to all other Port Stephens land and home buyers in the years before 2002.

It is on that basis the council fears a rush on compensation claims from residents. There are already 21 other claims by Swan Bay residents waiting for determination in the District Court.

But the council has greater concerns about the wider implications of the judgement in relation to information provided in the section 149 certificates.

"It's not just information about noise, it's information about things like potential flooding and landslip," Mr Gesling said yesterday.

"The court has said that it's simply not enough to tell people that they're buying a block of land under the RAAF flight path.

"They want us to provide more information, but we don't have access to the sort of information they want us to provide."

Mr Gesling said council's insurers were yet to decide on a High Court appeal.

© 2005 Newcastle Herald

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