Saga goes on: ACT Supreme Court backs Mbark’s appeal over retirement village decision
The longest running planning saga in the Canberra retirement village sector appears set to continue well into the future.
The drama began in October 2015 when retirement living operator Mbark signed a 99-year peppercorn lease with the Federal Golf Club to build a 125-dwelling retirement village on 7ha of land attached to the 85ha golf course in Red Hill, a project the Club said was essential to its long-term viability.
On 21 January 2026, the Supreme Court of the ACT granted leave for Mbark to appeal and set aside the order of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT), which was made on 14 April 2025 and amended on 30 May 2025.
The 2025 order was to abolish the ACT Planning and Land Authority’s approval of Mbark’s development application and to replace its decision with the Tribunal’s decision to refuse the application.
“Somewhat unusually, the applicant (the developer of the retirement village) and the first respondent (an incorporated body opposed to the development) are in agreement that the decision of the Tribunal relies upon legal error such that the appeal should be allowed,” Andrew Muller SC, Acting Judge of the ACT Supreme Court, said.
“I am satisfied that legal error on the part of the Tribunal has been established.”
The matter now returns to the ACAT.
Mbark owns and operates:
- The Arbour at Berry on the NSW South Coast; and
- Wivenhoe Village in Camden, southwest of Sydney.
