Katharine Huxley

Expertise

Katharine is an environment and planning lawyer with experience in development, compliance, local government and administrative law. Katharine acts for both public and private sector clients including the State Government, Local Councils, developers and individuals.

Katharine provides pragmatic and strategic advice on matters spanning planning and environmental law. She has carriage of a wide range of litigation in the Land and Environment Court of NSW, regularly appearing as a solicitor advocate, and has expertise acting for parties both commencing and defending development appeals, order appeals, tree disputes and civil enforcement proceedings.

Katharine was recognised for planning and environmental law in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.

Katharine sits on the Law Society of New South Wales’ Environmental Planning and Development Committee.

Experience

Katharine’s experience includes:

• providing accessible advice to local government and private clients on matters including:
  • permissibility of land use, characterisation of development and existing use rights
  • compliance and enforcement options and regularisation of unlawful development
  • issues arising regarding development under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) including development applications and consents granted under Part 4, and activity approvals under Part 5.
• acting in development appeal proceedings concerning land uses including residential development, warehouse and distribution centres, health services facilities, boarding houses, seniors housing, childcare facilities, places of public worship, digital advertising signage, and strata and Torrens title subdivision
• advising on administrative decision making and governance in Local Government
• acting for various defendants in judicial review proceedings commenced by objectors challenging the validity of development consents
• advising on and drafting various instruments and agreements for Government clients, including bespoke voluntary planning agreements and works-in-kind agreements
• acting in civil enforcement proceedings concerning the alleged unlawful enlargement or expansion of an existing use without development consent
• acting for a private developer in relation to the redevelopment of a state heritage item, being a complex site heavily constrained by the presence of an endangered ecological community, contamination, state heritage significance and mixed zoning.