The case of Saville v Council of the City of Gold Coast [2024] QLC 12 concerned an appeal by an owner of land (Landowner) located at Coomera (Land) to the Land Court of Queensland (Court) against the decision of the Council of the City of Gold Coast (Council) to categorise the Land as category "2T Residential 2".

The Landowner's Notice of Appeal was filed in the Court more than two years after the date of the Council's letter in respect of the rates category for the Land. The Notice of Appeal relevantly alleged that the Land ought to have correctly been categorised as category "1T Residential 1".

The Court ultimately did not consider the correct rating category for the Land, because the Court held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal on the basis that the Notice of Appeal was filed after the 42-day appeal period and the Court does not have the power to extend the appeal period.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the appeal.

The Council's decision categorised the Land as category "2T Residential 2", which is defined in the Council's Rating Category Statement as follows:

"A residential lot:
(1)    created on a Building Units Plan or Building Format Plan that is part of a community titles scheme (vertical orientation); and
(2)    located up to and including 4 levels above ground; and
(3)    either:
(a)    used to provide rental accommodation to permanent residents at any time during the rating period; or
(b)     not used as a principal place of residence."

The Landowner alleged that the Land's correct rating category is "1T Residential 2", which is defined in the Council's Rating Category Statement as follows:

"A residential lot:
(1)    created on a Building Units Plan or Building Format Plan that is part of a community titles scheme (vertical orientation); and
(2)    located up to and including 4 levels above ground; and
(3)    not used to provide rental accommodation to either permanent residents or itinerants at any time during the rating period; and
(4)    used as a principal place of residence by at least one of the owners."

The appeal period in respect of a local government's categorisation decision is stated in section 92(2) of the Local Government Regulation 2012 (Qld) to be "…within 42 days after the day when the owner received notice of the decision".

The Court estimated, based on the evidence before it, that the period between the date of the Council's letter in respect of the rates category for the Land and the filing of the Landowner's Notice of Appeal was in the order of 686 days (at [8]).

The Landowner submitted that its appeal must be given fair treatment, but did not dispute that the appeal was filed outside of the appeal period (at [5]).

The Court held that in the circumstances where the appeal was filed out of time and the Court does not have the power to extend the appeal period, the Court does not have jurisdiction to hear and decide the appeal (see [9] to [11]).

The Court held that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the Landowner's appeal because it was filed out of time.