Thornton v. Adelaide Hill Council

An Australian state court upheld a council decision to grant Provisional Development Plan consent to a shed that would house a four megawatt capacity coal-fired boiler. Local landowners challenged the council’s decision, asserting that the boiler will have detrimental impacts on the local environment by, among other grounds, releasing greenhouse gases. The court found no evidence in this case of a likely increase in GHG emissions by the proposed development compared with the existing operation. However, it did recognize that increasing GHG emissions may be inconsistent with the principles of ecological sustainable development, including the principles of intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle.