Council Will Not Act on Neighbour's Historical Unapproved Granny Flat

Lnwa on 05/06/2018 - 18:27
Last edited 05/06/2018 - 18:38 by 1 other user

Both neighbour and I have granny flat, mine is new and approved however been getting some grief from the neighbour about mine (complaints about noise etc), although they are the one with unapproved structure.

Lodged council enquiry, and officer advised they have inspected and cannot determine whether it was approved or not as its too old and they have no record, so they decided to not to prosecute as they might be on losing side in a court case.

Has the council got the right to do this? Or can I make the council take any further action apart from letting it be? I'm not after tearing it down prosecution but at least make them comply it, engineers report, drawing, basix, fees etc.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • ronnknee on 05/06/2018 - 18:35
    +23

    Sounds like you're being salty? Are you going to do anything about the noise complaints?

    • nwa on 05/06/2018 - 19:13
      -4

      Noise reports are false as they are dirty on my granny flat but cannot complain on that as its legal.

  • chumlee on 05/06/2018 - 18:42

    "Has the council got the right to do this? Or can I make the council take any further action apart from letting it be?"

    Council gave you their response. Up to you if you want to pursue it further but how much time & money do you want to spend on this?

    Start with ombudsmen first

    • HighAndDry on 05/06/2018 - 21:17
      +4

      OP really has no standing to do anything further unless the Granny Flat actually affects him. "The council doesn't have a record of its approval" does not affect OP.

  • smuggler on 05/06/2018 - 18:43
    +23

    You're the annoying neighbour.

    • Hardlyworkin on 05/06/2018 - 22:21

      If the OP was on the field we would be telling Op is a wan*er!

  • GourmetFoodie on 05/06/2018 - 18:44
    +4

    Mind your own business

  • Nutrino on 05/06/2018 - 18:44
    +1

    Myob

  • Diji1 on 05/06/2018 - 18:47
    +6

    Why are you calling it unapproved? As far as the council is concerned it's an approved structure.

    • HighAndDry on 05/06/2018 - 21:34
      +1

      More to the point, structures only need to be approved if at the time they were built, approval was needed. There's a lot of things you can do - minor renovations, etc - that don't need approval. The further back in time, the more you could do without needing approval. For all we (and OP) knows, the granny flat could well be grandfathered in under older laws/regs that said certain structures didn't need approval at all. (heh, pun totally intended).

  • whooah1979 on 05/06/2018 - 18:48
    +1

    comply it, engineers report, drawing, basix, fees etc.

    is the building unsafe?

    • nwa on 05/06/2018 - 23:35

      Not sure, as I thought that's what the councils job was to do when they find illegal works historical or not, but i suppose the officer in charge of the case has opted to let it be due to the historical, no records aspect. If it was built now or recently without approvals then action would have been taken to ensure compliance.

      • whooah1979 on 06/06/2018 - 05:43

        The nsw government changed the rules years ago. Gf may now be certified by an accredited certifier.
        https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/building-or-renovating…

        It does sound like this gf was built long before this council kept accurate records. They can’t provide documentation that this structure wasn’t built to the standard at the time.

  • onetwothreefour on 05/06/2018 - 19:01
    +9

    Just keep the noise down and mind your own business.

  • smuggler on 05/06/2018 - 19:10

    Can I have your coordinates so I can launch an airstrike on your granny flat?

    I'm currently playing BF4 and my Tomahawk missile cooldown is finished.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/06/2018 - 19:22
    +1

    Why is OP getting so much hate?

    This is potentially no different than a thread about moving in as a new tenant and having existing crappy tenants lodge all sorts of complaints to have the hallway to themselves.

    Except the neighbour potentially shouldn't even be there.

    • vinni9284 on 05/06/2018 - 20:27
      +1

      It seems like the way OP has written their post. Unless it is verbatim as the OP prefers to write.

      Neighbour complains about noise then the OP lodges a complaint to the council over unapproved structure.
      If it was written the other way around, then the OP could have received more unbiased answers.

      However I do agree that the OP has a right to complain if it is justified.

      Cheers

    • HighAndDry on 05/06/2018 - 21:18

      If OP was just asking how to deal with a neighbour filing false noise complaints against them, we'd be all (mostly) sympathetic, so long as we're convinced they're actually false complaints.

      But now? OP is going to council about a structure which both OP and the council don't know is actually unauthorized (it may well not have needed approval depending on when it was built).

      • nwa on 05/06/2018 - 23:25

        Totally false complaints and they have started it. Mine wasn't a complaint, it was an inquiry as I was like how brazen can someone be to complain about legal building works, when they are the ones in fact with illegal dwelling. Compliance officer said something to the effect it may well be unauthorized but they will not pursue it as its already existing for a long time and they don't have records that far back.

        • HighAndDry on 06/06/2018 - 09:55
          +2

          when they are the ones in fact with illegal dwelling.

          You keep saying this, despite all evidence to the contrary. That makes you the unreasonable one.

  • EightImmortals on 05/06/2018 - 19:52

    Lucky your neighbours weren't Jews and lived in Germany 70 years ago?

    I have ZERO tolerance for people who rat their neighbours out to the authorities for NO REASON.

    • Daniel Plainview on 05/06/2018 - 20:10

      Rat out??? Next you'll be saying 'snitches get stitches'?

      OP does seem to have an axe to grind - perhaps it's legit but hard to say based on scant info - but if people break rules and end up getting in trouble with authorities for legit issues, I don't think the person who reported it did anything wrong - in fact the contrary - the rules are there for good reason and for everyone - if folks don't like that petition the authorities that make them or perhaps don't transgress.

      That said the council seem to have made their decision and so unsure if much more can likely be done without evidence to the contrary.

      • HighAndDry on 05/06/2018 - 21:19
        +3

        There's no "perhaps it's legit". The council has said that the structure isn't unauthorized. That's really the end of that.

      • EightImmortals on 06/06/2018 - 06:33

        Sorry mate, I have even less patience for people who can't think for themselves and have to rely on other peoples rules in order to get through life. The ONLY legitimate reason to snitch on your neighbour is if the granny flat were impeding the enjoyment of your own property (which seems to be what the OP was doing rather his neighbour) OR the building was demonstrably unsafe in some way, which it wasn't. As others have said, despite the rock-spider act of setting the council dogs on his neighbour they have no complaint against him and so the OP is now acting out of personal spite. Or so it seems.

  • hogwarts on 05/06/2018 - 20:28
    +1

    A week til OP's 7 year anniversary for the account, makes post about council's rights. Any bargains?

  • tryagain on 05/06/2018 - 20:35
    +3

    If the noise complaints are baseless then you have nothing to worry about, just move on with your life, what does it matter if the neighbours granny flat is or isn't approved? By reporting him to the council you have probably ensured there will be more noise complaints coming your way.

  • djones145 on 05/06/2018 - 22:03

    study the noise restrictions for ur council
    print one off and sent it to ur neighbor
    party like its 1999 until that time every day :P

  • bobbified on 06/06/2018 - 00:36

    Even if it takes a little effort, it's in everyone's interests for neighbors to be on good terms.

    They're the ones that are capable of making your life a living hell if you seriously piss them off enough.

  • paulinspace on 06/06/2018 - 09:24
    +2

    I think you granny having wild drug fueled trance parties while you are sleeping. Maybe you should tell her to cut it out rather than ratting on the neighbours.

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