Non-Compliance with Planning Permit (Alteration to Landscaping) without Approval

Lvindator on 22/11/2022 - 01:13
Last edited 22/11/2022 - 09:25 by 1 other user

Hi fellow OzBargain comrades.

I have removed the dead plants from my front and side garden bed. This resulted in council issuing a non-compliance planning permit, that I have altered the landscape as per the town planning permit. Was provided 21 days to have the landscaping reinstated to compliance or enforcement action will commence without further warning.

I did not really like the landscape plant as the property was settled in Dec 21 (hence most plants are small). Does anyone have similar experience and how much would the fine be, or what is the best solution other than reinstating the landscape as per the planning permit?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • AngoraFish on 22/11/2022 - 01:26
    +8

    The best solution would be to replace the dead plants with the same species in the same pot sizes, then to pull everything out in two years and start again if you still don't like it at that time.

    Normally councils don't have the resources to chase up landscaping issues even once, but obviously you have a well resourced inner-city council or a difficult neighbor who has made a complaint. Perhaps your house has just been built and the council officer has done a one-off drive by to check that your permit conditions have been complied with.

    What council is NOT doing is cruising the suburb every few weeks comparing people's front gardens to their endorsed landscape plans. In order to do that they'd need to get stuck into council's crappy document management system, print out the plans and then go through your garden comparing plant by plant. Seriously, nobody has that time.

    Either way, council's care factor about your individual front garden will be pretty much zero 2 years after you've moved in, unless you have a neighbour who is willing to keep making complaints.

    Also, if your only issue is that the plants were too small, you won't get any complaints if you want to go out and by a bigger version of the original plant.

    Source: I've done that job at two different councils for several years.

  • Pelicannn on 22/11/2022 - 01:27
    +2

    Perhaps just put the dead plants back and give it a while. They won't care after a while. If they do, let them know you're happy for them to pop around and water them for you.

    • AngoraFish on 22/11/2022 - 01:37
      +3

      Doesn't work. The permit condition will be words very similar to "The landscaping shown on the endorsed landscape plan must be maintained to the satisfaction of the Responsible Authority. Any dead, diseased or damaged plants or landscaped areas must be repaired or replaced."

      OP has a legal obligation to maintain the garden and can be taken to the relevant administrative court in their state if they don't comply. Ultimately, if OP wants to be a dick then it will become personal and council will keep sending someone around until OP complies with the planning permit or keeps piling up the fines.

      Or OP can apply to the local planning court to vary the conditions of their planning permit, a process in which they may or may not be successful, but that will very certainly cost them several thousands or dollars by the time it's finished for a couple of plants.

      • Pelicannn on 22/11/2022 - 01:45

        RIP… hope Brisbane City Council don't drive past my place.. Grass ain't so green anymore.

        • AngoraFish on 22/11/2022 - 01:47

          I'm guessing your property wasn't built in the last couple of years, in which case you probably don't have a recent endorsed landscape plan that you need to comply with. Also, dead brown grass is still grass, and will certainly come back after a couple of weeks of rain. If you've concreted your front yard, however, that may be a problem.

        • dcep on 22/11/2022 - 03:10

          i heard some guy replaced their brown grass with artificial turf only to get fined and had to reinstate back to new grass that turned brown again.

          • cameldownunder on 22/11/2022 - 07:55
            +1

            @dcep: Guess has to do with water absorption of the ground, and maybe artificial turf is not water permeable, and the you get massive storm water if it rains.

        • Ughhh on 22/11/2022 - 11:04

          Spray paint them green lol

  • cookie2 on 22/11/2022 - 06:57
    +1

    Is this a norm with newer houses that changes to your garden on your own property needs to be as per a permit? I knew big trees required permissions to remove but not familiar with garden beds needing to stay same. Is this certain states?

    • mskeggs on 22/11/2022 - 07:38
      +2

      It is often something like, plant a hedge here so your window isn’t peering into a neighbour’s bathroom.

  • EightImmortals on 22/11/2022 - 07:05

    So wait, were the dead plants on your property or theirs?

  • Euphemistic on 22/11/2022 - 07:06

    Read the permit carefully. Either comply with it or request a new permit with landscaping the way you like.

    Is the permit that specific as to what will be planted and where? Surely there is some wiggle room in the permit that will allow you to alter the landscaping to your preference.

    • AngoraFish on 22/11/2022 - 09:14

      The permit will have clauses that require the developer to provide architectural plans, civil plans (eg stormwater pipes and pits) and landscaping plans. When the plans are accepted by council they are endorsed and then form part of the permit.

      You can't just decide on a whim to add a new window overlooking the neighbour's backyard, or put in different stormwater pipes, or replace all the plants in the garden with different plants.

      A landscape plan is required to ensure that the street is not left looking like a bombed out hellscape, including that there is some shade tree planting, that neighbours have some privacy screening, that plants aren't likely to grow over the footpath, etc. There may also be heritage, streetscape character, indigenous planting requirements, or offsets to trees removed during construction that need to be replanted.

      There is a huge degree of flexibility to landscape to your preference, but the time to be creative is when you are submitting the plan in the first place. OP's problem is that they have bought a house with all of the relevant decisions already made and now want to revisit those decisions. The process to do that is to submit a new application to amend their planning permit. Or, as above, wait a couple of years until everyone stops caring.

      • Loot N Plunder on 22/11/2022 - 09:35

        The process to do that is to submit a new application to amend their planning permit

        All good and well for structures and building related projects but plants is going to far.
        Plants die and people change their minds on their gardens looks, they shouldn't have to pay for that pleasure.
        Australia has to many karens interested in your business on your land.

        • AngoraFish on 22/11/2022 - 09:51

          The process is mainly in place, in my observation, because many if not most developers are cowboys and if landscaping wasn't a requirement it often wouldn't happen at all.

          It's not about what you can do with your land, it's about what the developers do with their land before they dump and run, leaving the cleanup to you.

          There are very few areas, mainly pricey inner city areas with heritage considerations and wealthy landowners, where council is likely to get involved in the landscaping around an established house.

          If OP has dead plants it's either because they haven't been watered or have been damaged on or around the time of planting. The plants haven't reached the end of their natural lifespans. In this case the initial landscaping hasn't been finished properly yet because the plants didn't even manage to survive a couple of months in the ground.

  • Loot N Plunder on 22/11/2022 - 07:30
    +1

    I cant believe you have to submit a compliant garden maybe in a gated community i could understand but for suburbia this has gone to far. See a nice plant cant buy it its non compliant want a bird bath non compliant want a water feature non compliant want fruit trees non compliant want an annual flowerbed non compliant want to change the look non compliant want to go from flowers to cactus/palms/native/stone/japanese garden non compliant

    Then do you really own the land?

    • EightImmortals on 22/11/2022 - 07:47

      Obviously not.

    • Adredocto on 22/11/2022 - 09:54

      Really hope your username is a captain planet reference. Theme song stuck in my head now!

      • brendanm on 22/11/2022 - 18:08

        Isn't it "looting and polluting"?

  • AndyC1 on 22/11/2022 - 08:04
    +2

    WTH when did council start needing permits to do a garden cleanup?

  • brendanm on 22/11/2022 - 09:41

    Probably in the people's republic of Victoria.

  • GordonD on 22/11/2022 - 10:45
    +2

    This is probably the most astounding thread I've ever seen on OzBargain.

    There's things council needs to have some power over.

    But can they really tell you what you can plant where in your garden on your property?

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