A controversial dual-mansion development at Wategos Beach has been approved by the NSW Land & Environment Court, ending an 18-month battle between media entrepreneur Antony Catalano’s company and Byron Shire Council.
The Land and Environment Court issued consent on 4 June for the construction of two detached dwellings at 1 Julian Place and 8 Brownell Drive — the site The Echo reported on in December 2024 when council unanimously refused the development application, with Mayor Sarah Ndiaye saying the plans didn’t meet ‘environmental, planning, or community expectations.’
The approval came not through a contested hearing but through a conciliation process, in which Catalano’s company Raes Residences Pty Ltd amended the DA to address council’s objections. The parties reached agreement across four sessions between late April and late May this year.
The approved development remains substantial. The main house on Julian Place will exceed Byron’s 9-metre height limit by up to 2.35 metres – a 26 per cent variation – with the smaller garden house on Brownell Drive also breaching the limit. Both exceedances were approved under a planning variation mechanism that allows height limits to be set aside where compliance is deemed ‘unreasonable or unnecessary.’
204 objections
The development attracted 204 objection submissions during notification, compared to 47 in support. Arakwal – the Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation – made both oral and written submissions given the site’s known Aboriginal heritage.
While the approval stands, the conditions imposed are far more extensive than those typical for residential development. The developer must retire 79 threatened species credits and ecosystem credits before a sod is turned, fund five years of groundwater monitoring, and implement a vegetation management plan with annual reporting obligations that run in perpetuity – all registered on the property title. An Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit must also be granted before construction begins, with Arakwal monitors required on site during all ground-disturbing works.
The developer will also pay Council $60,000 in costs.
Sanctuary Zone
The 4,087-square-metre site – which The Echo reported Catalano purchased partly to prevent a 17-dwelling subdivision – sits within the Byron Bay Sanctuary Zone of Cape Byron Marine Park and contains critically endangered littoral rainforest, factors that generated the complexity and duration of the approval process.
Construction cannot begin until a separate construction certificate is issued, which requires council sign-off on a further suite of technical reports including geotechnical and groundwater assessments.
The case name is Raes Residence Pty Ltd v Byron Shire Council [2026] NSWLEC 1332.
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