Neighbours

[silentC]

Not to mention the two widows who are suing their local councils because the trees they wanted to cut down fell over in a storm and killed their husbands (separate incidents).

Yes, our council required us to submit a 'colour palette' with our DA. We are not allowed to use gal or zinc roofing iron either - must be tile or colorbond steel.

On the upside, our council only takes 8 to 10 weeks to approve a residential DA.

The RFS had a much bigger impact on what and where we could build than the council did though.

[bitingmidge]

Here's where it gets a bit messy..... PLANNERS.

For 200 years we've gotten ( ) along just fine without them, no major stuffups, we've had roads, aquaducts and sanitation..... now some third year university student decides that she (It's always a "she" in planning offices) likes red, so we all have to paint our houses red.

BUT: the secret is in the word "palette". You see, once you have a planning approval which says your house is turquoise, some Nazi in twenty years time can ping you if you repaint it.

Among many of my standard "work arounds", from the outset I offer a clause which reads "colours to be from a sympathetic tonal range from a Palette derived from the Taubman's Heritage Colour range 1994", and to date have not had it knocked back.

This creates a couple of situations.

1) No one except me has a copy of the 1994 colour card, and I'm not giving mine up, so who can argue that turquoise wasn't on it?

2) The colour card has a squillion colours on it, so if you want to repaint your house red in the future, you are entitled to do so.

On the other hand, galvanised, zincalume or white colorbond roofs are pretty much banned across the country now, because there have been so many complaints about glare.....but they do put out a light grey one which is painted to look pretty much like gal (if you squint) and it does fade to pure white in a few years...

Most of the fun of dealing with these prickles is to provide perfectly legal solutions that will get up their noses when you tell them a year after you've got the approval!

cheers,

P (turning planning repression into fun)

[Clinton1]

I'd send a Greenie to you 'Midge, but I gave you one a while ago and the computer won't let me.
Love your solution.

[silentC]

they do put out a light grey one

Colorbond Dune

We're adjacent to the airport (such as it is) so I believe it is their stipulation, not the council's in this case.

In any case, our council employees are too busy compiling reports, executing studies, policing footpath use policies and undergoing training courses to be worried about what colour people are painting their houses. The planners never leave the office, so they create all of these wonderful policies but never see them in action and probably wouldn't know if they were being ignored.

I asked the BI about the colour palette and he just laughed. He said if you want to paint your house bright pink, that's your problem.

[markharrison]

Among many of my standard "work arounds", from the outset I offer a clause which reads "colours to be from a sympathetic tonal range from a Palette derived from the Taubman's Heritage Colour range 1994", and to date have not had it knocked back.

Nice try but no cigar! Your DA will not be approved in Pittwater. Been there done that!!!!!

I suggest you have a look at the link I provided above because this is what you will be working with in a few years from now.

If I was intending to stay in Pittwater I would be running for council and I know I would get a good team of supporters. Unless the madness of councils dictating public taste is curtailed we will be living in houses that look very similar, are similar colours etc, etc. In short, like a Communist era eastern european housing development.

As an aside, I have accepted a job in Brisbane and will be moving back to Queensland in the near future. If you had a choice, would you rather work with Redland Shire Council or Brisbane City Council? I'm planning to move to either Manly or Wellington Point.

When I say back, I come from the Sunshine Coast (born in Nambour and went to school there and Maroochydore when we moved there) originally though I left there some 25 years ago. My family still live on the Sunshine Coast. I've lived in Sydney for over 20 years but I've never really liked it. The commuting and (now) the housing problem is just out of control.

[chromis]

Here's where it gets a bit messy..... PLANNERS.

For 200 years we've gotten ( ) along just fine without them, no major stuffups, we've had roads, aquaducts and sanitation..... now some third year university student decides that she (It's always a "she" in planning offices) likes red, so we all have to paint our houses red.

I'm going to do a survey or all the australian town planners to get the percentage of "shes" vs He-s...

I'll get back to you in several years with proof that your statement is totally wrong in oh so many ways.

[lnt9000]

I need to share my frustrations with you guys...I have mentioned previously about my neighbour...well the sh*t has hit the fan...the trouble has been slowly brewing over a few months...I started extending the shed...only 3 metres...no permit...and she knew it...well guess or called the council...they came around and want me to submit plans for the deck, the roof over the deck, the spa..and the shed extension plans...bloody pain in the a*se...well time will tell...who will win the battle...I reckon we are good neighbours...not feralls...and the amount of work I have done for her (free)....and just one of those projects was her deck and pergola...and carport...with no permit...so who is ring the council tomoorow.
I don't want to sound like a whinger...but ...she could only talk to me over the fence...we could have talked about it...she didn't mind sipping champagne in the spa...when she was hot....that's my story...what do you think.:mad:

Sounds a bit like a days of our lives saga , keep us informed of your progress leeton, I think many of us have done the deed in the past but have been fortunate not to have your neighbour

[seriph1]

that's it! I just read this thread and I am off into the back yard to cut a sick tree down before anyone tells me I can't - the bloody thing has already dropped some monsters ................... where's me chainsaw!?

Bloody councils - up here in our small rural communists - oops - community, I was amazed to find this little gem - of course, it wasnt until after the land I bought had settled, that it sank in ......

I pay in rates, 100% MORE for the 3 acres of land ($80,000) I bought than I do for my home in the same shire - Council's comeback when asked? "Council has the right to charge what it sees fit on properties within its jurisdiction - to encourage owners to build, the rates are doubled on unimproved land". The steam rose out of my ears I can tell ya ........ and of course do you think I could get any justification for the impost? Telling them that the land uses NO shire services at all, except what their staff have to do to produce their bloody BILLS was of no avail..... No putting a Van or transportable home/shed on it - only a structure ostensibly forming a permanent, habitable dwelling is considered for rate adjustments, so no-go.

madness

to cap it all off, the rates on my house here are more than the rates on our old place which was worth at least twice as much, in Melbourne..... and I have been warned already that any works done to the property MUST receive prior approval from council..... when I asked what the limits of that was, I was told that if I dig a hole for a Hills Hoist, I need a permit. If I had the time I would LOVE to try that one on........ fun fun fun.

Ok, now to "hug" that tree.

[Termite]

that's it! I just read this thread and I am off into the back yard to cut a sick tree down before anyone tells me I can't - the bloody thing has already dropped some monsters ................... where's me chainsaw!?

Bloody councils - up here in our small rural communists - oops - community, I was amazed to find this little gem - of course, it wasnt until after the land I bought had settled, that it sank in ......

I pay in rates, 100% MORE for the 3 acres of land ($80,000) I bought than I do for my home in the same shire - Council's comeback when asked? "Council has the right to charge what it sees fit on properties within its jurisdiction - to encourage owners to build, the rates are doubled on unimproved land". The steam rose out of my ears I can tell ya ........ and of course do you think I could get any justification for the impost? Telling them that the land uses NO shire services at all, except what their staff have to do to produce their bloody BILLS was of no avail..... No putting a Van or transportable home/shed on it - only a structure ostensibly forming a permanent, habitable dwelling is considered for rate adjustments, so no-go.

madness

to cap it all off, the rates on my house here are more than the rates on our old place which was worth at least twice as much, in Melbourne..... and I have been warned already that any works done to the property MUST receive prior approval from council..... when I asked what the limits of that was, I was told that if I dig a hole for a Hills Hoist, I need a permit. If I had the time I would LOVE to try that one on........ fun fun fun.

Ok, now to "hug" that tree.

Use the greatest power you have........the vote. If you feel strongly enough about it, then campaign before the elections on the basis of unfair rate charges, and you may be suprised at the support you get from other voters and some of the councilors who wish to be re-elected.

Kick up a helluva stink at every oportunity in as public a forum as possable.
People tend to forget what a vote is for, it is for ensuring fair and equitable Government at any level.

[Babytoolman]

termite has it.
I think we have become lazy in our protestations to these overblown power hungry minions.
Write to your local papers 6 weeks out of an election and watch the scrambling these idiots go through to try and make promises change by-laws so they can stay comfortable.
Better still run for council and make the changes from the inside. If you have like minded people in all the wards of your council stand against the others if only to make life very difficult for them. I am sure if they ask you to pull out of the race they will be promising changes to the planning and approval by-laws and ensure you hold them to it.
By the way i hate councils and i am in one council that is the 3rd highest charging in the country and all i get is my rubbish picked up and a bill every 3 months so the GM can go out and have coffee with his planning team.

Stand a deliver to these morons when it will count.

Roger

[lockers]

The best bet is having good neighbours, when we first moved in we had a tree that was not well and dropped crap everywhere, spoke with the neighbours about it and they said yes please we hate that tree, plus in Canberra decks that are low enough and the same with pergolas dont need the ok from the council.

[boban]

My take on council decisions is that most people dont give a stuff until it affects them. These councillors are not there for you but themselves (of course there are exceptions). They are trainee state politicians who will kiss anyone's backside they think will help them get to their goal.

When you whinge to one of them, they do react even if the whinge is unreasonable. Why, because they can then turn around and say they work for the community. I've dealt with these trainee politicians on numerous occassions and have yet to come across one that does not sway in the wind. And then there are the femi-nazi greenie concillors ....

[Bodgy]

. And then there are the femi-nazi greenie concillors ....

And then there is Kuringai Council......

Boban is right on the money. The problem is that very few of us have the time, nor the patience to get involved. In general the people who do get involved are of a very low calibre and do it for purely selfish reasons, first amongst which is power. We have a great example; a complete non entity becomes mayor by drawing a longer straw than the tied candidate.

Fortunately planning has been taken away, but I fear only on the major developments.

Most of us don't realise how woeful our councils are, as we mostly only see their good side - the sports grounds, library etc. If all the electors actually sought a DA things would change. This may happen in Kuringai as they demand permission before one can errect a single sheet of lattice, as a backdrop, or windbreak in your yard. They claim it is a permanent structure hence permission must be sought - at a price, of course.

Nearly all of our councils dictats are changed if you go to Land and Environment, but they know that few people will, cause of the cost. Hence these petty dictators enforce their own agendas on us punters, with impunity.

[dazzler]

Hi

i reckon the truth is in here somewhere;

"the trouble has been slowly brewing over a few months"

So whats the story? I have been to hundreds of domestic neighbour disputes and there is always a story.

Who did what to who who then did what to who to what to who!

come on

out with it

dazzler

[boban]

And then there is Kuringai Council......

I know about them all too well.

Current situation. Large home planned and approved by Land And Environment Court in Turramurra. Council rejected it. About $10,000 of rate payers money down the tube and a thorough hosing down of the town planners by the Commissioner.

Next about 20 trees (mainly palms) to be removed. The tree lopper who was also an arborist points out that the peppercorn tree (which stands about 4-5 metres high and whose branches overhang the footpath) is dead. Owner asks to cut it down while the loppers are there. Council arborist inspects and agrees that the tree is dead but the town planners will not let them cut it down because it is a condition of the DA that the tree remains. Even though the arborist recommends that it be removed. You must lodge a s.96(1) application to vary the DA. Cost of the application is half the cost of the original DA.

Looks like the next step is to shift liability to the Council and we will see whether they still maintain their stance.

They dont like it when they are taken to court and lose, which is what usually happens.