Asphyxia, Byron Shire
In response to Lifting the lid on Byron Shire Council’s unauthorised dwelling amnesty, I write to support the comment that ‘if you come forward, you enter a potential bureaucratic nightmare. It is so convoluted and expensive and can give people nervous breakdowns.’
As a landowner currently trying to get a permit for an unauthorised dwelling (which I had been told would tick all the boxes for Council certification), I can confirm the nightmare and expense. I am a DIY person, but the Council requirements force you to hire a long line of very expensive experts for every aspect of approval.
Not only that, but I am forced to upgrade from an inexpensive, low-resource, waste management system, which my research shows is environmentally safe and friendly, to an expensive system that is much more resource-intensive. The stress in trying to find DIY low-resource and low-cost solutions while navigating confusing requirements has indeed driven me close to a nervous breakdown.
The total bill looks set to be $35,000 (not a cent of which will improve my life in any way) and I have given up trying to adhere to my low-cost/low-resource principles, which is soul-destroying. No wonder Byron Shire has a problem with affordable housing!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
