Wollongong ratepayers struggling with ever increasing rates must despair at the waste of money as council decision makers pursue farcial objectives.
Much of the land along the Illawarra coastline is zoned 7( b ) which forbids building activity. The criteria for zoning approval for a dwelling on 7 (b ) land is a requirement that the building lot not be less than ten hectares.
There are a small number of existing homes on 7 ( b ) land, built ages ago before this zoning took effect. They are perfectly legal and both council and owners have in the past accepted the status quo.
A family at Wombarra wished to extend or replace such a home due to the needs of a growing family - and this development application was promptly knocked back by Wollongong council.
The council took the stance that such dwellings could not be extended, and in the event that they were destroyed by such a calamity as a fire - they could not be rebuilt.
The owner took the case to the Land and Environment court - and lost ! The court ruled that the council had the right to make such an interpretation under it's planning powers.
The council then abruptly changed it's mind - and rescinded this oppressive interpretation - and the owner can now look forward to having extension or replacement plans approved.
This debacle cost the home owner at least $ 10,000 in legal costs - and the council will have a far greater legal bill - and this is a cost to the ratepayers of this city.
The casualty was common sense. The council may have the legal right to implement insane laws, but no right thinking person - apart from the odd hysterical Greenie - would go along with making a family live in fear of homelessness in the event of a bushfire destroying their home - leaving them with a worthless piece of land.
The council employed retrospectivity - reneging on law and custom - to disadvantage a ratepayer - and in the process wasted a large sum of money just to prove a point - and then reversed it's decision.
That sort of thinking is why we have a big financial problem in this city !
Geoff, yet another interesting post on planning issues at Wollongong City Council. There is now, amongst the Council staff, a paralysis when it comes to stepping outside the strict planning rules - even in cases overwhelmingly justifying such action. This fear or paralysis is of course directly attributable to the ICAC finding of systemic corruption and the actions and misdeeds of former Councillors. Innocent rate payers like this family are now suffering this 'strictly by the book' decision making syndrome and ordinary rate payers are of course footing the legal bills for these Land and Environment Court actions. The Council staff simply have lost their gumption and would rather waste a pile of our money defending an appeal knowing full well that irrespective of the judgement, they will retrospectively allow this development. This family is not a big time developer sniffing around for favours that will make them a bundle via unfair application of discretion. They are an ordinary family seeking to replace a highly unsuitable, aging house with something their family can safely reside in. I hope the upcoming appointment of Appeal Panels will provide residents like this with a cheap, fast and user friendly appeals mechanism.
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