Greens Cr Elia Hauge has put a motion for the upcoming Council meeting asking staff to inform the public with the legal advice around enforcement action on unauthorised dwellings.
She is asking for councillor support at the upcoming April 27 meeting to make the legal advice public around ‘a suspension of action on eviction notices and demolition orders during the period the enforcement policy is being reviewed, or 12 months (whichever is longer), and a corresponding extension for the orders and notices enforced under the new policy’.
As previously reported, a demolition order is in place for a multiple occupancy (MO) in Upper Main Arm, with long-term residents having 12 months to comply to building codes. The MO has been in existence since 1971 and is part of the counter-cultural movement of the time.
Councillors have sought to review the current enforcement policy since the compliance actions, yet the demolition order remains.
In the meeting agenda (available online), Shannon Burt, Director Sustainable Environment and Economy replied that the matters raised by Cr Hauge’s motion (points 1–3) are addressed by an April 10 mayoral minute.
That mayoral minute was for ‘a report on the current compliance action at Upper Main Arm, including a clear, chronological overview of events, as well as an outline of the legal framework and any relevant advice on enforcement provisions’.
It is unclear what aspects of that report will be made public.
Unauthorised dwellings
Cr Hauge’s motion also seeks a report ‘potential models for regularising unauthorised dwellings that reduce or defer upfront development application (DA) costs’.
In reply, Ms Burt suggests councillors ‘may prefer’ instead, a confidential ‘councillor workshop to further explore these options prior to a report’.
Ms Burt also suggests the ‘discussions’ for her proposed closed-door workshop. They include drafting a letter to the Minister for Housing, ‘asking when the findings will be released, and the progress of our, and other, [short term rental accommodation] STRA-impacted councils, in NSW’s requests for the registration fee for STRA to be increased, and handed over to councils to pay for compliance’.
Ms Burt writes, ‘The workshop would allow Council to understand regulatory constraints, while exploring ways to support residents in a manner that complies with the current legal framework and financial implications for doing so’. She added Council have published on their website three planning pathways, ‘where unauthorised dwellings are identified’.
‘These pathways are guided by legislation and planning controls to ensure: appropriate construction standards; bushfire safety; and land and environmental constraints are applied consistently’, she said.
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