I beat the 'bastards' again.

The Archie's nemesis ... the Planner.

from WinCustomize Forums

Architects don't just "draw stuff", they need to be able to get all 'political' and argue interpretations too.

It's a dodgey game as you're dealing with people who can [like to] make or break your day.... you have to be oh-so polite and 'reasonable', yet state in a way they don't realize...."you're just plain wrong" and get them to reverse their decision/requirement/amendment.

Last week I received an in-house-issued Planning Permit for 2 units...on a single, corner block...about 50 feet wide by about 130 long.

Now, by definition a FRONTAGE is the 50 bit of road facing North...and the 130 is the SIDE road [East].

Hassle was...it was a corner in the SAME road...so not 2 different names which may have eliminated [their] confusion.

I designed a PAIR of units...facing the SIDE street boundary.

Clever Planning Dept. determined/declared that since BOTH units had their front doors on that side...THAT was thus the FRONT of the site.

Wrong.  The piece of land did not move....the Front is STILL the short bit facing North...not the long bit facing East.

What got their knickers in a knot is that the 'rear' unit DOES face the side street [East] and NOW will exist as a separate ratable entity so it DOES need to comply with the [3000] setback rule, however, although the front one is IDENTICAL [mirrored] it is still the FRONT one....[hence its name....with me still? ] and thus its front is yes, you guessed it...the FRONT of the site... and that means the SIDE [with a front door in it] only is required to be 2000 setback as is the case with a SIDE street.

1,754 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

And if they had any brains they'd be dangerous? Oh boy. Bureaucrats.

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

P&Z officials are normally bottom feeders.......just slightly above Lawyers and below biting flies on the evolutionary scale.

They seem to get their jollies telling you that you "can't" do something.......unless they come up with a way to make it cost 10 times as much as it should.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

And if they had any brains they'd be dangerous? Oh boy. Bureaucrats.
End of quote

P&Z officials are normally bottom feeders.......just slightly above Lawyers and below biting flies on the evolutionary scale.
End of quote

Big developers bulldoze hundreds of trees a day, yet for one owner/builder, the Ipswich City Council is saying that he cannot remove one tree that is slap bang in the middle of the lounge room of the house he wants to build.

If the tree stays there's NO house.... yet a different part of the P&Z has already issued the building permit.  Now how ridiculous is that?  The town planner has said "Go for it Sunshine" and a tree hugger in the next office says "Not over that tree's dead body."

Building has been held up for 3 months now while the tree issue is resolved... meaning the owner/builder is reduced to living in a caravan on-site until his bricks and mortar home is completed.

Bah, council officials.... couldn't organiise a root in a brothel. :-"

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I had 'issues' with a tree once....engaged the services of a Tree Surgeon to assess its viability.....he simply said to drill a hole....insert some Zero...and cover it with mud so no-one notices...and wait a few months.

Dead tree...issue resolved.

The only drama with such methodology is if you make the council aware that you 'need' it gone.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Another occasion I told the client...."this tree is a real bugger....means 3 units, not five"

We were standing under it at the time....it was around 20 meters high.

His reply was "What tree?"

Next day it was gone....he'd paid the council workers 2 slabs...and they'd removed it FOR him...
End of quote

Yup, when you approach council lower down the pecking order, you CAN get sensible results/decisions... offer them beer and the upper echelon need never know.

A resident of Forrest Lakes up here had an unsafe tree [root rot and the like] and an expert suggested it be removed to prevent serious damage to his house.  Brisbane City council in its infinite wisdom, however, declared the tree safe and said that he would be fined heavily should he remove it.  "Okay," he thought: "I'll just prune it back a little.... still got fined, though.  Apparently he needed permission to lop his own tree, though he ended up having the last laugh...

A few months later a huge storm went through and the tree fell... you guessed it.... ON his house.   With the right legal team and a sympathetic judge, he won the ensuing court case and the BCC was ordered to pay full restitution and court costs.

It's all about how you approach a 'problem'...
End of quote

With councils, if you can't get a rank and file bloke at the time, it's knowing where the mayor and town planner have their skeletons buried. :w00t:

Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

"A few months later a huge storm went through and the tree fell... you guessed it.... ON his house.   With the right legal team and a sympathetic judge, he won the ensuing court case and the BCC was ordered to pay full restitution and court costs"

In a word...... good ....;)