Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 21Feb 03, 2009 8:18 pm Hi Sammy,
Thanks for the info - Yes the plan is to submit and obtain Demo DA approval and then wait for EB to advise the construct DA approaval before I go knocking anything down. Yes - I had a good read of the TPO from HSC and I'm confortable regarding the trees. Yes submitted a Landscape concept plan but wasn't aware of the retaining wall submission on the same plan. I put together a very simple plan with a combination of hard a softscape items (Fences, decorative gravel, stepping stone pavers, and buffalo lawn etc.) There is a combination retaining wall in place atm (Brick base 400mm high and 400mm of treated pine wingsplits on top of that.) It's an eyesore but it did the job for what I wanted at the time. I added the timber part. The height of the wall, post build is yet to be determined as there is an approx 500mm cut and fill (back to front) to occur so I left it off the concept plan. I'll just have to wait and see what to do after the cut occurs. Cheers Leonard. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 22Feb 03, 2009 9:49 pm Hi Sammy,
Thanks for that info regarding the Concept Landscape Plan for HSC, I thought it had to be a bit more detailed. Do they really make you plant everything you said you were going to? The blocks at either side of ours (their DAs got approved just before Xmas) put plants down but a little disclaimer saying something along the lines "plants will be replaced if not available at time of landscaping" or something like that... ummm, didn't realise that the fences had to be on the DA... I will check if the other 2 blocks put theirs. The Council said that they wanted to see that we weren't concreting the entire yard and that we would use native plants... I didn't realise that you were building in Hornsby, I have seen your blog before and your house looks great, so nice and big too! what bricks did you use? I think I might have even driven past your place... Would it be ok to PM you if I need some more info regarding HSC? We need to remove a big gum tree on our block so I would be interested to find out what tree removal company you used, etc. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 24Feb 10, 2009 8:41 am With regards to your kitchen quote - we had a similar experience, we got slugged quite a bit for putting in caesarstone benchtops. I got other quotes from stonemasons and told the kitchen people what the other quotes were and told them what they are charging is just way off the mark - they eventually relented and reduced their original quote but not by much...so maybe you can do the same...
Sammy is right about putting in your DA for demo after they have approved the plans - this is what Homeforce told us to do. They did a great job with our demo once they got all the equipment - fencing got delayed and the truck for demo was delayed also. The council approved our demo plans almost straight away, within days of getting the house approved and this included getting trees removed affected by the house. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 25Feb 10, 2009 1:09 pm A Quick Update:
I submitted the DA for the Demo today 10/2/09. I plan to wait for the construction DA approval before proceeding with the knock down. The whole process was reasonably simple once I learnt which parts of the form to complete and what documents to provide. For HSC I needed to provide: 1 x completed DA Form 1 x completed DA Checklist 18 x coppies (3 for Council and 15 for the neighbors) of: Site Plan, Waste Management Plan, Statement of Eviromental Effects. For good measure I also provided 3 x copies of the Demo Contractor's relevant Licience to operate, Insurance, and Asbestos handling licience. etc. In the Planning division of HSC they have a display on the wall advising of Approval Lead times for the various DA types. They also disclose the approval average in days as well. For HSC the Lead time for domestic single dwelling demo DA is 40 working days with and average currently at 29 days. A DA number has been issued and it will be asessed in due course. On other matters -Kitchen - We are no longer having glass inserts in the overhead cupboard doors nor are we having light boxes for those 2 cupboards either. This removes some $1,500 from the kitchen variation so I was able to retain the timber look garage door within my budget. I got my varaition quote for 6.38mm glass in the Master Bedroom Awning Windows and the Parent's Retreat Fixed and Corner windows which I'm authorising today. There are only 2 other things I'm chasing up atm. My Front Door issue is still unresolved - a question remains over the availabilty of the 2340mm tall door vs a 2040mm tall door. And, I'm still waiting to received the revised drawings re-positioning the Water Tank back to it's original position. Is the dream over? Re-Zone by Council 26Mar 16, 2009 9:09 pm Hi All,
It's been a while since Ive given an update. All Selections have been completed and signed off. My door issue has been resolved and I'm now just waiting for the offical PCV's to come through for the Tiles and the Kitchen and thats it. From the HSC Website I can see that the construction DA has been conditionally approved. Need to submit ammeded plans to icrease the size of the garage by 290mm and the Demo DA is close to approval after being through final assesment. All sounds pretty simple? Yeah Right! we are talking HSC here. After today I'm not sure it's worth building the house at all. Received a letter from HSC today advising that a number of properties near mine have been slelected to form a precint in prep for re-zoning. Turns out our block is on the border of the re-zone. This doublely affects us as we are on a corner block so across the roads on both sides is being re-zoned for 5 (FIVE) Storey apartments. They are going to put in traffic lights out the front of my house. My alfresco fronts onto the side street where there will be 5 storeys of people looking down at us and 5 storey's of people having parties on the weekend making noise and cooking all manner of food. My insurance will probably go up due to the increase is housing density. Street parking will become an issue. The coucil are also proposing to adjust the solar access rules reducing the min winter sun to a measly 3 hours daily (we have twins and wash EVERY DAY) 3 hours is a joke. They make us reserve 7sqm of back yard for clothes drying but build monster buildings next to us and say that's ok we adjusted the rule down to 3hours per day. I am P$%#$d OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have signed a contract with EB and have paid a deposit and are almost ready to go. Then the council goes and does this. I thought something was fishy when the construct DA got approved so fast. They clearly had other more important things to attend to. I bet I could have prosposed to build a replica of the Titanic painted in pink fluro with blue poka-dots and they would have approved it as long as it had a garage 4.5m x 5.7m. Has anyone had this happen to them? Is my land going to be devallued due to this? I feel like Des Kerrigan from the Castle! Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 27Mar 16, 2009 9:42 pm Oh no, that's not good news! I got the same letter today and thought of you straight away! I knew they would be much closer to your block.
We'll all have to complain and stop the developments going up, it's plain ridiculous to change the sun light requirements to 3 hrs just to suit them! To top it up the information times are not till May, so I guess if we want further info before then we'll have to harass the Council. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 28Mar 16, 2009 9:56 pm The front page of the Advocate last week read "Welcome to WaitaraHurst"
For those of you who are not familiar with the suburb. HSC turned Waitara into highrise central to the point where if all occupants were to goto a park in the area, each person would have approx 1 - 1.5 sqm of open space each. The stupid thing is the Housing strategy side steps the biggest eyesore in the shire which is Asquith shops which has been screaming out for re-development since Adam was a boy. Very short sightedness HSC.... very short. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 29Mar 16, 2009 10:48 pm I'm not sure if you have demolished yet, but if you haven't you may need to budget for an addition 2-3K if there is asbestos in the walls of that old home.
I had to demolish the same type of home built back in the same time period and asbestos was commonly used. If they find that there, they will hit you up for it. Further to that, keep a close eye on them, make sure they clean the site, and issue a "certificate of clearance".. i.e. site is asbestos free. Good luck with the building Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 30Mar 17, 2009 9:15 am Thanks for the advice franco.
I dropped by the council this morning. There was a big line up to "talk" to the town planner. I personally wanted my pound of flesh but I had to leave as a needed to goto work. Since last night I have taken a keen interest into high rise buildings and I don' t like what I'm finding. If both 5 storey developments go ahead on adjacent corners from me I will end up being boxed in. Apart from the issues I had first thought of, security, parking, privacy, solar access, noise. There is one more to add to the list..... Garbage management. I can jsut imagine the smell 1 day before collection day and then to see all of the bins lined up aross from me sitting there for the entire night waiting for collection and then the truck making hydraulic pump noise at 4am in the morning loading the crap. OMG I want to die!!! I'm so depressed at this. My only saving grace is that the more than 80% of the proposed precint is registered as either bushfire prone or flame zone land and parts of the precint has a gradient greater than 20% making building expensive and difficult. Personally I think it would be rather dangerous and foolhardy to build HD housing on such a site. But then again we are talking HSC. Hey they may allocate my front yard as the emergency assembly point for evacutaions and I can hand out tea and scones as I watch their 5 storeys burn to the ground. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 32Mar 17, 2009 12:47 pm Southies What about talking to your local member ? You have a point there Southies, and more since Judy (the local member) just sent her flyer around yesterday saying how good she is and blah, blah, blah... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 33Mar 17, 2009 9:56 pm Ok So I went and met with a Strategic Planner at the Council this afternoon. I stayed calm and I was informed of the following:
1. This has been in the planning for the past 12 months – I knew that 2. Local Councils have been directed by the State Gov’t to develop and publish a plan to increase the number of dwellings within each shire to set criteria. – I knew that. 3. Failure to publish a workable plan would see the govt do it for them – I didn’t know that. 4. All properties within the shire were assessed for suitability for inclusion in the re-zoning – I didn’t know that. 5. The proposed re-zoning is just that, “Proposed” 6. The rezoning process is expected to take a min of 2 years. Note: I don’t believe this statement. 7. This is the first of 2 re-zoning tranches - I didn;t know that. 8. 3 Storey as apposed to 5 Storey was considered but this would have more than doubled the size of the proposed re-zoned area. 9. It is hoped that 5 Storey buildings with an internal lift will restrict the responding developers to the higher end of the quality scale – I pointed out that this is a flawed strategy and that the Council should have learnt their lesson after 2 penthouses remain unfinished and without permits to occupy in the Waitara precinct due to uneven flooring in the superstructure that cannot be fixed. 10. Owners of properties bordering re-zoned areas can provide submissions to have their property considered for re-zoning in this release. I asked a number of Questions Q. Why am I being boxed in? A. See Point 10 Q. Is there a there a priority order of which Precinct is going to be built on first through to last? A. No Q. Will a priority order be developed? A. Too early to determine Q. What is the planed building elevation on my side street as I don’t want 5 Storeys of people peering down at us “Big Brother” Style? A. Too early to determine. However conceptual drawings depict east to west orientation Q. Will a set of Traffic Lights be installed out the front of my house? A. No, the current intersection is rated “A” less than 1 minute wait to join main arterial road. The projected rating post development will be “D” 3-4 min. Traffic Lights will not be considered until a rating of “G” min 10mins is reached. Note: I don’t believe this statement as I asked for this commitment in writing and my request was declined. Q. Are parking restrictions (Metres and Signs) going to be erected in the streets around my house? A. Too early to determine. Q. The Precinct to the North of my property has steep grades in places and is more than 80% bushfire prone as per Council plans. What plans are going to be put in place re: resident evacuation points in the event of a natural disaster? A. Too early to determine. Q. Will the proposed developments exceed the dwelling to services ratio for Police Fire and Ambulance? A. Too early to determine. Q. given the proposed density is any consideration going to be given to daylight hours garbage collection? A. Too Early to determine. They gave me a CD ROM to look at but I was strongly advised to attend one of the open meetings set for May. These Meetings are going to be knock down drag out affairs. I can’t wait!!! There are a lot of unhappy people in the shire at the moment. At the end of the day I am still going to proceed with the build of our house but I will be making a submission to attempt to change height (back to 3 Storeys) of the side elevation and have my property re-zoned in this tranche other wise I fear my property value will bottom out and flat line. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 34Mar 17, 2009 10:38 pm Hang in there Leonard... Seems like you've done a bit of homework!
Sorry, I don't understand what point 10 means, does it mean that you can ask for your block to be re-zoned so you can put units (high developments) on it? Point 7 - does that mean that they will re-zone other areas in future? I think they could be right with the 2 years wait, and more if residents start complaining and making a lot of noise about this... but then again when they want they can speed things up. I think it's good news that you keep going ahead with the build, as this development might never happen or they might end being smaller or... Good news about the fact that they won't put traffic lights, I hope they stick to their word, but they are not stupid and will not put it in writting... I will keep an eye out for further info and we'll be going to one of the information nights for sure, maybe we can even go to the same one! Try to get some sleep. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 35Mar 18, 2009 8:52 am Hi Jochicho,
as to Point 10, Yes, The planner advised that any property owner can make a submission at any time to have their property considered for a re-zoning application. In this case given the Council is proposing re-zoning areas based on the directive from the state gov't the council would seriously consider granting a re-zone given they need to make the minimum allotment of proposed dwellings. as to Point 7, Yes. This is phase 1 of 2. The criteria for phase 1 was groups of properties that were witin 800m of a train station with direct connection to the City CBD or a 15 minute peak interval bus stop with connection to Hornsby train station. I enquired re: Phase 2 and if planning had begun on property selection. The answer given was no but body language tells me otherwise. A rub of the eye followed imeadeatley by a scrtach of the forehead tells me that I had just been told a whopper of a mis-truth. I was advised that owners bordering re-zoned areas may be given some form of special treatment being able to duplex develop their properties. I advised that that was not an option for me given that I have already committed to a builder and I have a 1200mm easement down the entire side of my block. Response=Ohh that will need further assesment. My response = Just re-zone me and I'll go away a happier resident. I'll keep you updated if anything further develops. Suggest you get the Advocate tomorrow and have a read. The story wont be hard to find as it will be on the front page. Yes definitley need to goto one or all of the open meetings to make sure we get all of the information. I'm guessing the first meeting will be pandamodium as it will have the most fireworks from the long term residents of the shire. Leonard. DA's Approved!!! 36Mar 18, 2009 10:09 am After all the re-zoning discussion etc I thought it time to move onto other more important news.
My DA to Demo and EB's DA to Build have both been approved. Not a bad turn around Build DA submitted 6/2/2009 and Approvaed on 12/3/2009 Demo DA submitted 10/2/2009 and Approved on 18/3/2009 Bring on the Bulldozers. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3 38Mar 18, 2009 12:17 pm yep 24 working days for the Build DA and 26 working days for the Demo DA.
I rang my demo guy and told him I'm receiving the notification in the mail today or tomorrow so go and fill up your tractor and get on it. Re: Building and Eden Brae Memphis28Mk3 39Mar 25, 2009 1:22 pm Hi all, A quick update. Demolition begins this Friday 27/3 The power is getting cut to the house tomorrow. Council have stipulated in the DA approval that sediment control fencing be erected and the tree in the back yard be suitably protected. This is happening tomorrow as well. I rang contacted EB to see if they could put these in place so I could save some ca$h seeing they need to be there for the entire build. Unfortunatley they declined sighting my build is not in construction phase. They wouldn't even entertain a credit later down the track for this. Anyway I got a good deal from the supplier I chose. I did a heap of ringing around and found a guy from the central coast that does it for $6.50/m installed to the Aust standard. BTW - I got a quote from my Demo dude to do the sediment fence and they quoted $30/m installed. Soon adds up for a corner block for the 2 boundaries facing the streets. For the Building Certificate to be issued for the construction of the new house I also need to have an Acoustic Assement (AA) conducted and I have made a few calls to some suppliers. All I can say is WOW I am definitley in the wrong job. A standard Residentail AA runs anywhere from $1500 - $3200 depending who you call. All that for setting a sound metre on site for 7 days and reviewing the results against the proposed building materials and providing a written recommendation indicating that the materials to be used will be sufficient to adequately insulate the ocupants from the road and rail noise on a long term basis. Ohh well It's got to be done, I just wish I had known about this before now as the Build Cert will not be issued until the Council sight the AA. I hope to take some pics of the old house comming down. I just need to juggle a few work things around and I should be right. Rgds Leonard. Re: Building and Eden Brae Memphis28Mk3 40Mar 25, 2009 9:02 pm Hi Leonard, Demo on Friday, that's great! It will be good to see something happening. Has EB given you a construction start date? Wow, that's a huge difference in price for the sediment control fence, it does pay to call around for quotes, that's for sure! Oh, sorry, I didn't realise that you didn't know that you would need an Acoustic report, EB should have told you! If you are a certain distance from the train line and the main road you require that... The block next to us was asked to get an accoustic report by their builder but then they found out that they were past the twenty something metres you need to be away from the Rail line and didn't need it after all! Is your Construction Certificate being done by the Council of by the EB's Private certifier? Can't wait to see some action on your site Leonard! Building a Wisdom Prosperity 23 - http://erwisdomprosperity.blogspot.com/ DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair We purchased a 1960s property that is on timber stumps mostly, and a newer section is on concrete stumps. We had a building inspection initially and they reported some… 0 12823 Strong enough for what? For linen, absolutely. To climb on, no. I've got similar shelving in my garage and it holds a decent amount of weight. 900 wide shelves will carry… 1 4223 Probably a not bad thing to mention particle board should in case anyone else reading this got the two confused. 6 4942 |