Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 41Oct 19, 2009 10:37 am I'm wondering if he is starting to realise he has bitten off more than he can chew! The lengths that some people will go to is amazing! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 42Oct 19, 2009 1:06 pm Jas_Wants_A_House Thank you everyone for the support. We went to court on Friday 16/10/09. The Judge told the neighbour that he didn't build the case properly and he should have included us and the builder as party of proceedings, however, the judge did give him 3 more weeks to build his case and to serve all parties properly. The judge was surprised that the neighbour didn't hire a solicitor to represent him as the case was a judicial review of the council process, not about the result of the DA. The council's solicitor was a very experienced one and this class was "losers pay all", so I think the legal bill will be big. RFS also expressed that they should not be a respondent as they are not a consent authority and had only provided advice to the council that it's OK for us to build as long as we adhere to the conditions they put in. If the case does proceed, they would be the one who's going to provide the "expert opinion" on the bush fire matters. I am quite confident that council did the right thing with their process, so it's just another huge delay. I do hope the neighbour does consult a solicitor so he knows where he stands as this is a "lose lose" situation for everyone. If he talks a solicitor, he would know that he's facing a over 10K legal bill in 99.99% chance if he does go ahead with the case. BTW, the previous owners of the block never put in a DA so we didn't know the condition of the neighbour until we put one in. And this is a case of buying any place anyway, as you never know what sort of neighbours one is going to have. Whats that old saying - A person that represents themselves has a fool for a client. I really hope that your neighbour thinks long and hard about proceeding based on the Looser pays system. What's the process now? Wait to see what your neighbours next move is then re-convene at the court in 3 weeks time? Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 44Oct 19, 2009 2:47 pm What a nightmare but good on council for having an experienced solicitor. Your neighbour prolly doesnt know what he is in for. He prolly didn't even realise you would be there. First impressions dont look at all for the neighbour seeing that the judge advised that he didnt even prepare his case properly. All the best Jas, we are behind you! Round One is yours and i hope in the next appearance, the judge just gives it to the neighbour for his selfishness Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 45Oct 19, 2009 3:03 pm Reading through the thread, interesting situation, some people believe that 'bluff' will be enough I think. I'll be watching with interest, good luck.. Builder: Me*tricon Homes Design: Freedom Range, Santorini 26 Handover Date: 12th February 2010 Homeone Thread: viewtopic.php?t=22216 Blogspot: http://www.evolvedmonkey-santorini26.blogspot.com Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 46Oct 19, 2009 10:11 pm I'm sorry you have to go through all this. I know what Hornsby council is like - I live in Ku-ring-gai Council area. I hope you have the courage to see this through. D*ckheads like that guy need to be pulled down a peg or two. Judie Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 47Oct 20, 2009 5:23 am The guy must be an idiot, and the judge an exceptionally considerate person if its a judicial review of Council's process surely that means that providing due process has been followed and no bribes etc have taken place then surely things will be found in yours/the councils favour? Although the 3 week extension adds to the time, it will also add to the costs if your neighbour adds everyone to the case (so nice of the judge to suggest that), its going to make him more of a loser especially in terms of money in the long run!. Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 48Oct 20, 2009 9:12 am With all your support and well wishes behind me, I will not give up! It's been 3 years just to get council finally approve it (the long process was mostly due to this particular neighbour's other objections), a few more weeks is not going to stop me. By Nov 6, we will know if he's going to proceed or not. If he does, the hearing is scheduled on Nov 27. I will keep you posted. Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 49Oct 20, 2009 10:05 am Since the block poses such a large fire risk, I think you need to clear the entire block as a fire break.... If there's only dirt there, your neighbours worries about fire risks will be gone... And when you eventually build, you should discuss with the council how to protect your privacy considering they have such a large balcony. Maybe a tall fence? And if that doesn't work, how about covering the roof with solar panels? I'm sure they'd like that view..... Honestly, what a tosser. I don't think he has a right being so rude just because he wants views - he has no right for that. If he wanted views, he should buy the block. Otherwise, he should put up with whatever you want to build there. I cannot sympathise with or justify someone like that - because he is so selfish. You have every right to do what you want with your house, and I think it's bad enough you couldn't have the 2 storey you wanted in the beginning. What surprises me most is that he could even look at the plans - our neighbours never needed to look apart from the retaining. I really hope you win and he's out of pocket lots - karma is sweet, and he deserves every bit of it. Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 50Oct 20, 2009 11:19 am When you do build your house though, make sure you paint a big FU in white on your roof tiles facing your neighbors balcony. Thats what I would do. Place some huge reflective solar panels to shine the sun back in their red faces!!! Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 51Oct 23, 2009 11:38 pm Hey Jas kickRRRRRs for the good guy Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 52Oct 24, 2009 11:54 am Seriously I think he's got something growing in his basement or something tt he doesn't want u to see or able to smell. Even worse... make sure he's not a mr Fritzl! Hope it all works out for u!! weblog: http://www.smoobox.com.au/blog/ 24/07/09 - Siteworks 03/08/09 - Slabwork Done 25/08/09 - Brickwork Done 30/09/09 - Roof Done 29/10/09 - Locked Out! Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 53Oct 24, 2009 12:17 pm Hi, All the best with your case. I was wondering whether you are aware of the new NSW Housing Code? Perhaps in your case as you have progressed too far with Council and the single storey design to change but with the new code, you don't have to use Council's DA process, if your design tends to comply with the new code. You can put the application through a private certifier. The Council will then have to chance to tell you whether you should build single or double storey. The new code also removes a lot of neighbor's power to object housing development. In my case, as we are still at the early stage, I have decided to change from normal Council DA process to the new NSW Housing Code. Our Council is Holroyd and it is difficult to deal with as well. Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 54Nov 02, 2009 10:01 am The lovely neighbour has decided to go ahead with the proceeding, adding the builder and ourselves as 3rd and 4th respondent. The next hearing is Nov 27th. The block does post high risk of bush fire and it also has a great regional valley view and that captured our heart when we first saw it and it still does. We can't use the new State building code because bush fire prone land is excluded in the code, which is like 50% of the blocks in Hornsby shire, I made up the numbers but Hornsby actually calls itself the bushland shire, so the coucil and rural fire service have a long history of dealing with applications with bush fire risks. One of the coucil worker told me that it's this is their every day job and they followed for the processes and procedures. However, certain individuals have some fixated thoughts and they are blinded with their thoughts and they do have rights to take council to court for judicial review. We did not do anything wrong - we tried our luck for double storey and coucil didn't let us, we could have taken council to land and environment court to fight for approval, but we didn't because we naively thought there was no point to upset your neighbour when you planned to live there for a long time. We gave in and got our single storey DA approved and the neighbour still wants to stop us building. We know it's his problem, not ours. I am a firm believer of Karma. It will come back and bite eventually. Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 55Nov 02, 2009 10:41 am I really hope everything works out in your favour. Your neighbour must be either very rich or very silly or maybe both. If you, your builder, the Council, and the RFS have followed every process and procedure approriately when perfroming the DA submission and assements (and it is the DA assement process that your neighbour is claiming was not followed correctly) then I can't see him winning. I reall hope this is the case. Good luck for the 27th. Rgds Leonard. Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 56Nov 02, 2009 5:06 pm I'd also like to add my best wishes to you regarding the upcoming case. We also live on a bush fire prone block with valley views and so I know what hoops you now have to jump through to build successfully. Unlike you, we built our house many years ago but this is the sole reason we have not knocked down to rebuild. Hopefully you will soon start to build your lovely new home and the neighbour will learn to accept defeat graciously (or karma bites him on the butt ). Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 57Nov 02, 2009 5:47 pm I'm amazed that they are still going through with it! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 58Nov 02, 2009 7:32 pm Sorry to hear that your neighbour is wanting to proceed. Fire risk or not, the block was sold for the purpose of building. I hope it goes in your favour quickly. Your neighbour is prolly hoping that this whole long drawn up process would cause you to fold. But looks like the view must really be something if he is wanting to stoop this low to keep it to himself. All the best! Re: Neighbour from hell - taking council to court 59Nov 02, 2009 7:41 pm when you win - why not submit an amended DA through to council for the 2 storey that complies with their specs. if that fails then you still have the winning DA to fallback on even if you have no intention of seeing that through, once you win, it might just twist the knife deeper into the tools spleen ’’Quondo Omni Flunkus Mortati ’’ If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. 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