58 Caroline Chisholm Drive Winston Hills NSW 2153

Building Certificate - A Building Certificate has been lodged to regularise the unauthorised building work consisting of enclosing an existing carport at the front of the property into a garage.

External link Read more information

We found this application for you on the planning authority's website ago. It was received by them earlier.

(Source: Parramatta City Council, reference BC/68/2019)

6 Comments

Create an account or sign in to have your say by adding your own comment.

  1. Neal and Susan Martyn commented

    It's difficult to know the even the general nature of the unauthorised works when relevant documents have been retained by a Council Officer (Mr Mihaila); why is that?

    However it's apparent from a visual observation of the property that:

    1) the open carport at the front of the property and under the original roofline has been enclosed, presumably to create a garage with roller-door facing the street (?). These works have changed the appearance (streetscape) of the property and of its setback relative to those adjacent, and has additionally compromised the open character of its front yard in contravention of the requirements of the Winston Hills Special Character Area (clause 8).

    2) a large tree at the corner of Caroline Chisholm Drive and Homer Street has been removed.

    It is likely that the above unauthorised works and those additional, the detail of which is being "retained" by Mr Mihaila, will be routinely authorised as seems to be the norm. in these situations.

    That in my opinion would be the wrong approach IF Council is serious about wanting to deter property owners from either themselves, or by the engagement of tradespeople, knowing undertaking building works without authorisation safe in the knowledge that a "get out of gaol free card" in the form of a Building Certificate will be routinely issued by Council after the event.

    An Order to restore the property to its original state may be a little heavy-handed, but then that depends upon the totality of the unauthorised works, and how near(er) neighbours feel about the matter.

    No matter the outcome of this Application, Council needs to either make a more concerted effort to make people aware of the rules governing such matters and then rigorously and consistently enforce those, or turn a blind eye!

  2. Neal and Susan Martyn commented

    UPDATE BY NEAL AND SUSAN MARTYN.........

    Having just spoken with the Applicants it appears that there are extenuating circumstances, that inter alia includes their claim that the building works involving the attached garage were shown on drawings attached to the Title documents produced at time of their recent purchase.

    On the face of it this situation is unusual, but more to the point, if Council's advice of the Building Certificate Application via its online portal, and consequently via Planning Alerts, had included all relevant Documents supplied instead of those being withheld by one of its Officers, then transparency would have avoided our earlier queries of that, of the Application, and of its assessment.

    We reiterate though, that on the broader issue of unauthorised works being consented after the event by Council's issue of a Building Certificate, it needs to either make a more concerted effort to make people aware of the rules governing such matters and then rigorously and consistently enforce those, or continue to take the apparent "harder than a marshmallow" approach by turning a blind eye.

  3. joseph Camilleri commented

    I totally agree with the points made by mr Martyn, in highlighting the council should strongly adhere to the council regulations, god knows how many trees and backyard alterations that are carried out in the area. Example of property in Hera place having every tree on the property removed which was quite heavy handed in keeping with the property’s surrounding and leaving it totally devoid of any green softening of what was previously in place,

  4. commented
    Hidden by site administrators
  5. commented
    Hidden by site administrators
  6. Neal and Susan Martyn commented

    BC68/2019
    RE-SUBMISSION re the above by Neal and Susan Martyn who originally commented about 1 month ago and have to date not received an acknowledgement from the Consent Authority:

    "It's difficult to know the even the general nature of the unauthorised works when relevant documents have been retained by a Council Officer.

    However it's apparent from a visual observation of the property that:

    1) the open carport at the front of the property and under the original roofline has been enclosed, presumably to create a garage with roller-door facing the street (?). These works have changed the appearance (streetscape) of the property and of its setback relative to those adjacent, and has additionally compromised the open character of its front yard in contravention of the requirements of the Winston Hills Special Character Area (clause 8).

    2) a large tree at the corner of Caroline Chisholm Drive and Homer Street has been removed and the fence improperly relocated off the boundary.

    It is likely that the above unauthorised works and those additional, the detail of which is being "retained" by Mr Mihaila, will be routinely authorised as seems to be the norm. in these situations.

    That in my opinion would be the wrong approach IF Council is serious about wanting to deter property owners from either themselves, or by the engagement of tradespeople, knowing undertaking building works without authorisation safe in the knowledge that a "get out of gaol free card" in the form of a Building Certificate will be routinely issued by Council after the event.

    An Order to restore the property to its original state may be a little heavy-handed, but then that depends upon the totality of the unauthorised works, and how near(er) neighbours feel about the matter.

    No matter the outcome of this Application, Council needs to either make a more concerted effort to make people aware of the rules governing such matters and then rigorously and consistently enforce those, or turn a blind eye!

    Having just spoken with the Applicants it appears that there are extenuating circumstances, that inter alia includes their claim that the unauthorised building works involving the attached garage were shown on drawings attached to the documents produced at time of their recent purchase.

    On the face of it this situation is unusual, but more to the point, if Council's advice of the Building Certificate Application via its online portal, and consequently via Planning Alerts, had included all relevant Documents supplied instead of those being withheld by one of its Officers, then transparency would have avoided our earlier queries of that, of the Application, and of its assessment.

    We reiterate though, that on the broader issue of unauthorised works being consented after the event by Council's issue of a Building Certificate, it needs to either make a more concerted effort to make people aware of the rules governing such matters and then rigorously and consistently enforce those, or continue to take the apparent "harder than a marshmallow" approach by turning a blind eye."

Have your say on this application

Your comment and details will be sent to Parramatta City Council. They may consider your submission when they decide whether to approve this application. Your name and comment will be posted publicly above.

Create an account or sign in to make a comment

This week

Find PlanningAlerts useful?

This independent project is part of the digital library from the local charity, the OpenAustralia Foundation. PlanningAlerts is powered by small donations from the people who use it to stay informed about changes to their local area. If you find it useful, chip in to support PlanningAlerts.

Back PlanningAlerts