Shellharbour council seems to have a penchant for threatening million dollar fines to force ratepayers to tug the forelock and obey orders. They recently threatened just such a course of action unless a widow lopped three metres off her flagpole - and moved it half a metre to satisfy a council edict. Now they are at it again !
In 2011 Shellharbour sustained a crippling rain event that saw the flood declared a " natural disaster ". As a result, the state government granted emergency funds to the council to allow relief work to be undertaken.
This flood dislodged a shipping container used as a storage shed from somewhere upstream and deposited it on a property that borders the shore of Lake Illawarra. It is not accessible by land and the only way it can be approached for removal is by water, and that will make it's removal a very expensive matter.
Council decided not to use those emergency funds to clean up this mess - because it posed no " health or safety " risk. Now they are threatening the owner of the land on which it rests with action in the Land and Environment court unless that owner picks up the tab for having this work done. A quote for it's removal stands at $ 24,000.
The woman who owns this property would have difficulty funding this work. If the matter goes to court, the council will be looking to recover it's legal costs and yet the allocation of government relief money was intended to protect property owners from such financial loss due to the ravages of Mother Nature.
This is a nightmare dilemma for any land owner. Heavy rain causes a flood which moves objects onto your property. Because it is merely " visual pollution ", the council decides not to use granted funds for remedial work, and after those funds have been dissipated, starts action to force you to pay to do the cleanup work.
Sadly, it seems that the legal position favours the council !
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