QLD Gold Coast City Council - Letter for Unkempt Property?

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00Shadow00

Member
18 February 2016
2
0
1
Good Morning,

My question relates to the Cold Coast City council under the local law above.

I have been served with a notice under Local Law No8 (Public Health, Safety And Amenity) 200, an advice regarding an unkempt property.

The letter further states:

A recent inspection of the property revealed that the condition of the property
Situated at -------
Lot ** --------

is in such a condition that may attract vermin, and/or is unsightly, and/or, has a negative impact on the amenity of the surrounding area.

As a result of this finding, you are requested to remedy this by carrying out the following work.

1.Cut slash or mow: mulch and/or remove such grass, weeds or herbage undergrowth over the whole of property and whipper snip all property boundary fences lines, an area of approx 2370m2:


2. Remove from the whole of the premises items including but not limited to unregistered vehicles and waste building materials.

Please note that a further inspection will be carried out on or after the 24th February 2016

My questions are as follows:

1. Can the council inspect my property without my consent and with no notice?

2. Can they force me to get rid of my unregistered cars from my own property ( this is my hobby)?

3. Do the council have to be reasonable and because of the time they have given me is just over a week to fix up everything as I am ill can I get an extension of time?

For the last 36 months, I have been with ill health and have been in the hospital for an operation only recently. I suffer from a number of conditions not least of which is COPD ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), back and neck pain and I also have a problem with my legs after DVT ( deep vein thrombosis) .

My property may not have had the lawn mowed for a couple of weeks but in no way does it look unsightly. My house is comparable with other houses in the street, admittedly my lawn was not mowed but that has since been rectified.

My problem I think comes from a disgruntled neighbour who has lived here for 20 years when I have been here 25 years and he can see into my back yard, which by the way, cannot in any way, be seen from the street.

I do have a few cars some are my sons and two are my daughters, they are all projects I have worked on plus a boat a caravan jet ski and a Toyota coaster for conversion to a motorhome. I have a few others and I know this sounds a lot but I also have a garage which is waiting to be built, which will house most of the vehicles, but as I said, because of illness, I have not yet been able to complete it.

The garage will also be built along part of the fence line from which this neighbour complains. I also have some new building materials on my property for my renovations which would have been completed but since my wife of 35 years left they have taken a back seat for now.

I am also open to compromise in that I could store until the garage is built. I could put up a fence to at least obscure some of the view from my neighbour.

This is also taking a toll on my health as I do not want to lose things I have built up over the years and as I am also on a disability support pension and cannot afford to re-acquire. I am very worried they are going to take all my cars away.

I am just asking for a little help as to how far can the council go. To answer another point in their letter, I have never had vermin here the only time we had a mouse was when the cat caught one and brought it home.

I sincerely hope you can help me with regards to property law as I also have no money for a lawyer, if not can you put me in touch with someone who can help I would appreciate any assistance you can give.


My house has a long driveway and the entrance of the driveway is all that can be seen from the street front.

Thanking you for any help you can offer.


Kind regards
 

Rod

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
27 May 2014
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I'd be writing back saying:

1. Complied. Grass and undergrowth have been slashed/mowed
2. (a) I have no waste building materials on site (if true)
(b) What law prevents me owning unregistered vehicles and restoring them as a hobby on my own property? (Do not make it seem this is a commercial business otherwise they'll get you for running a business from home!)

Keep the tone friendly and polite.

Also remember that council sometimes want to be seen to be responding to complaints and being active to reduce their liability. If you give them an out, they might be happy to forget the whole issue.

Good luck.
 

00Shadow00

Member
18 February 2016
2
0
1
I'd be writing back saying:

1. Complied. Grass and undergrowth have been slashed/mowed
2. (a) I have no waste building materials on site (if true)
(b) What law prevents me owning unregistered vehicles and restoring them as a hobby on my own property? (Do not make it seem this is a commercial business otherwise they'll get you for running a business from home!)

Keep the tone friendly and polite.

Also remember that council sometimes want to be seen to be responding to complaints and being active to reduce their liability. If you give them an out, they might be happy to forget the whole issue.

Good luck.
Thank you I am just waiting for them to return my call - thanks