5020LAW: SECOND ASSESSMENT ITEM /2020
Administration Notes
1. Submitting your Assessment Item: Assignments are to be lodged via Turnitin in the course web
site (Assessment). For all 5020 LAW students the due date for submission of this assessment item
is Tuesday 6 October 2020 by or before 22:30.
2. Plagiarism: Students should note that submission of an assignment represents an affirmation that
it is all their own work and that nothing has been copied from the work of others except where
appropriately referenced. If students wish to submit assessment items with any similar material for
two or more courses, they must first seek approval of all course convenors. Failure to do so could
be interpreted as cheating.
Plagiarism is defined in the Griffith Law School’s Assessment Policy (cl.4.1.5) as –
Plagiarism is the knowing presentation of the work or property of another person as if it were the
student’s own.
Some examples of plagiarism listed in paragraph 4.1.5.4 include –
• word for word copying without both appropriate use of quotation marks indicating direct copying
as such and the inclusion of a reference identifying the source of the material; or
• closely paraphrasing material without acknowledging the source; or
• submitting work which has been produced by someone else.
It will be the practice of the teaching team to refer all suspected plagiarism to the Chair of
Assessment Board. Students are encouraged, if they are uncertain as to their use of source
materials, to approach any member of the teaching team to seek clarification. Plagiarism can lead
to the making of a complaint of academic misconduct to the Chair of Assessment Board. Such a
referral may result in the imposition of serious penalties including a fail for the Course or exclusion
from the course.
3. Late Penalties: Late submissions will be penalised according to the standard penalty. The
standard penalty is the reduction of the mark allocated to the assessment item by 5% of the total
weighted mark for the assessment item, for each working day that the item is late. Assessment
items submitted more than five working days after the due date will be awarded zero marks.
4. Extensions: Requests for extensions for assessment items must be directed to the Course
Convenor before the submission time and date. Extensions may be granted for medical conditions.
Extensions will not be granted for work commitments, family commitments or computer failure.
5. Special Consideration: Students applying for special consideration (due to medical or other
grounds) for assessment items must complete the appropriate application form available from a
Student Administration Centre. Students should submit Special Consideration forms as soon as they
experience any difficulties that may interfere with study or examination performance.
6. Word Limit: The word limit for this assessment item is 1,400 words. A 10% excess will not be
penalised.
7. Calculating excess length: Breaches of the word limit will be calculated in accordance with the
Law School Assessment Policy which states:
When counting words for compliance with a word length requirement, all words are to
be counted (including footnotes) (sic) other than citations, references and
bibliographies which do not contain any substantive content. Before a word penalty is
imposed, markers shall average the number of words per line over at least 10 lines of
text, then count the number of lines of text and multiply this number by the average
number of words per line to reach a total. Appropriate allowance should be made for
incomplete lines.
8. Marking criteria: The marking criteria for this assessment item is as follows:
Content: Correct identification of key issues, applicable law and relevant facts. Main issues
covered in appropriate depth; effective use of core reading materials; persuasive
arguments logically presented and appropriately supported (25 marks comprising 18 marks
for your answer to Part A and 7 marks for your answer to Part B);
Structure: Introduction; conclusion; appropriate use of paragraphs, headings and sub
headings; orderly and logical progression through content (2 marks); and
Expression: use of plain, clear and precise language; grammar (spelling and sentence
structure); appropriate referencing style (footnotes or endnotes); bibliography (3 marks).
9. Penalties for excess word length: Breaches of the word limit will be calculated in accordance with
s 7.3.3 of the Law School Assessment Policy on the following scale:
The whole of the assessment item shall be marked but the student shall be penalised according
to the following formula:
1 – 10% excess: 0% of the total marks available
11 – 30% excess: 15% of the total marks available
31 to 50% excess: 51% plus excess: |
30% of the total marks available 50% of the total marks available |
The assessment question is on the next page.
Assessment question
Earth Friendly Homes Pty Ltd (EFH) has applied for a development approval (reconfiguring a lot and
material change of use) to convert four existing large lot, semi-rural properties into a new estate of
120 eco-friendly, retirement dwellings offering a “peaceful, living-with-nature experience” for Dirty
City’s ageing population. The site is located 65 km west of Dirty City in South East Queensland. It is
currently zoned rural residential but falls within the Urban Footprint. The site is low lying land with a
local creek flowing across it. There is a growing demand for over 50s living accommodation in Dirty
City. The developer argues this site is particularly ideal as it is well connected to the existing road
network and contains a large clump of remnant vegetation that will be retained and conserved in
keeping with the eco-friendly theme of the development.
Dirty City’s planning scheme was made in 2018. It complies with all aspects of ShapingSEQ 2017 and
all aspects of the State Planning Policy except the SPP policies on ‘natural hazards, risk and resilience’.
Approximately half the land proposed for this development – as well as some of the road network that
leads to the site – is covered by a Flood Overlay map included in the existing planning scheme – but the
existing planning scheme does not include a Flood Overlay Code.
The Strategic Framework (identified as a relevant assessment benchmark for this application) states:
Dirty City aims to achieve the following strategic outcomes (SOs):
SO 1 Dirty City will encourage sustainable development, the preservation of local character
and diverse lifestyle options for its residents.
SO 2 Dirty City will foster a prosperous regional economy that supports and maintains
agricultural productivity by, for example, protecting good quality agricultural land from
unnecessary urban development.
In Dirty City’s planning scheme, the Rural Residential Zone Code includes the following performance
outcomes (POs):
Overall purpose: To ensure rural residential areas offer high quality amenity, rural lifestyle
and scenic values.
Performance outcome 1: Ensure lot sizes remain viable for small scale agricultural activities.
Performance outcome 2: Protect scenic and environmental values.
Performance outcome 3: Allow some additional residential development if it is compatible
with adjacent development and easily serviced by existing infrastructure.
In support of its application, Earth Friendly Homes Pty Ltd (EFH) argues that, although the proposed
development involves significantly smaller lot sizes than currently exists within the Rural Residential
Zone, it offers a well-designed, environmentally sensitive built form that will be consistent with the
existing lifestyle of quiet, rural residential living on large lots. All residences will be built to withstand
flooding up to and including a 1 in 70 year and 1 in 100 year flood event including a small allowance
for low level climate change impacts.
In February 2020 Council adopted a Resolution on Promoting a Sustainable Future in which it pledged
to, “Continually strive to reduce our carbon emissions” by, among other things, “Encouraging
everyone in our community to make greater use of active and public transport options”.
Council has received a number of submissions from adjacent landowners who argue the development
is inconsistent with their small scale farming activities and incompatible with the amenity and
character of their district; will generate a significant increase in traffic and associated carbon
emissions; put native wildlife at greater risk; be inconsistent with Council’s recently adopted
Resolution on Promoting a Sustainable Future; leave new residents isolated and unsafe in a flood
emergency and increase the risk of flooding downstream. They argue unprecedented bush fires in the
region in late 2019 demonstrate the folly of encouraging more intensive development in this area.
Last year Council commissioned a review of its flood mapping. The new mapping identifies high,
medium and low risk flood prone areas. A significant part of the development site falls within a new
medium flood prone risk area and may be subject to inundation in a 1 in 70 year rainfall event. A draft
amendment to the planning scheme incorporating the new flood information is currently out for
public consultation.
A. You are the planning committee for Dirty City Council. Decide this application (ignoring Part B
below) in accordance with the relevant law and give reasons for your decision.
B. If the proposed development were to go ahead which of the proposed development
conditions listed below would be considered lawful if contested by the developer in the
Planning and Environment Court?
1. As the site is close to a local creek, the developer is to contribute $5,000 per
annum into Council’s Healthy Waterways Fund to promote landscaping and revegetation of local creeks across the local planning scheme area.
2. The developer is to prepare a bush fire prevention strategy for the whole of the
site and neighbouring properties within a 30 kilometre radius of the site.
3. All dwellings are to meet a six star energy rating and be equipped with water
tanks.
4. To show case the eco-friendly attributes of the development all communal
facilities and at least two dwellings must be designed to operate on a completely
carbon neutral basis.
5. To maximise thermal comfort employing passive design principles, all dwellings
are to include living rooms with a northern orientation and covered outdoor living
spaces at least half the size of the main internal living room.
END
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