Natasha is an experienced litigator and specialist environment and planning lawyer.

Prior to joining Bick & Steele, Natasha had a sea change, moving from Sydney to the Coffs Harbour area and working with a local firm in Coffs Harbour where she continued to specialise in environment and planning law. She now calls Coffs Harbour home and loves going to the beach and enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

Natasha has over 20 years experience specialising in environment and planning. She realised this would be her passion in law while working at a mid-tier firm in Sydney where the mix of work involved acting for local councils and developers. From there, Natasha continued to develop her expertise while working for 10 years at “Top Tier” law firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Clayton Utz where she conducted a range of environmental and planning litigation and advised clients on compulsory acquisition, issues relating to contamination of land and urban development.

Natasha’s advisory and strategic work in the area of environment and planning has been diverse. She has acted for companies and individuals seeking to develop land where the development involves issues that include biodiversity and cultural heritage, loss of views and risks relating to bushfire prone land. She has acted for individuals whose land has been acquired compulsorily and she has advised major corporations on environmental risks. These are just some examples of the types of matters she has worked on.

Natasha has also been involved in a number of important environment and planning cases. She is an expert litigator in the Land and Environment Court but she also has experience in other areas of the law that can arise in environment and planning matters. Natasha has acted for a local council commencing contempt proceedings in the Land and Environment Court. She has acted for a client defending allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of contract and she has been involved in nuisance and negligence claims.

Natasha practices in all areas of environment and planning law, including:

• conducting environment and planning litigation including planning appeals and compulsory acquisition hearings in the Land and Environment Court

• providing planning advice such as advice on modifications of consents, advising on whether developments have ‘physically commenced’, drafting voluntary planning agreements and strategic advice on approval pathways for the granting of development consents

• advising clients on all aspects of compulsory acquisition and conducting negotiations with the acquiring authority

• advising on environment protection licences including making applications to vary licences, preparing submissions to the regulator (EPA) and taking action in the Land and Environment Court challenging the EPA’s decisions

• advising on waste issues, including resource recovery orders

• advising on compliance issues such as clean up notices and other responses to regulatory notices (notices to produce records and information, development control orders issued by local councils), attending regulatory interviews and advising on environmental offences

• advising on the management of contaminated land

• conducting judicial review proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia

• conducting mediations and arbitrations involving contractual disputes

Natasha’s ability to work on diverse matters comes from her other legal experiences, not just from large law firm experience in Sydney. She started her career in a small city practice in Sydney where she advised clients on a range of matters, from drafting wills to defending breach of contract claims. She then practised in insurance litigation for a number of years. Just before Natasha left Sydney for the beautiful Coffs Coast, she spent two years working on various public hearings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Natasha is an experienced litigator having acted for clients in proceedings in the NSW Land and Environment Court, NSW Supreme Court, Federal Court of Australia, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the High Court of Australia.

Qualifications

Natasha has the following qualifications awarded by the Australian National University:

·         Bachelor of Arts

·         Bachelor of Laws

Credentials

A selection of matters on which our Team have advised or acted during the course of their career can be found here.