The landowner, Radwan Alam, had appealed against the council’s refusal of consent for the kennel operation on his property on Walker St.

At the time of the application the land was zoned E3 Environmental Management, under which the development of an animal boarding establishment was possible if council consented.

But the council said the development would have an unacceptable impact on the environment, for numerous reasons.

These included the impact on threatened species and endangered ecological communities, and the lack of adequate evidence to assess these impacts.

It could provide “olfactory lures for canids and an aural lure for stray and feral dogs” – that is, smells and sounds from kennels would attract stray animals – and this was likely to affect the eastern pygmy possum, a vulnerable species living at the site.

The applicant argued there were no existing protections for the possum, nor for other fauna, to protect them from feral dog and deer. And he said there was no proper basis on which to say the eastern pygmy possum would be badly affected.

But Commissioner Linda Pearson in the LEC determined she could not allow the development, which is next to the Garrawarra State Conservation Area and the Woronora Special Area (water catchment).

This was because the relevant part of the Local Environment Plan required that any developments approved in this zoning would help protect or improve biodiversity and encourage the recovery of threatened species.

The zoning changed in July 2015 as part of the “7d lands” resolution, where much of the land near Helensburgh, including this property, was rezoned to E2 Environmental Conservation. This did not affect the case.