Third party appeal rights - past and future

The paper sets out the history and development of rights of appeal in relation to land use planning/development consent decisions in Australia. It argues that just as the adoption of town planning legislation was inevitable in Australia following legislation in the USA and Europe in the early 20th century, so the acceptance of third party appeal rights in Western Australia (presently without appeal rights for objectors, representors, or persons aggrieved) is inevitable. The arguments against allowing appeal rights are addressed with the evidence indictaing that third party appeal rights do not lead to a plethora of appeals and any delay consequent upon such appeals being instigated is directly dependent on their management by the appeal body.