Knockdown Rebuild In Sutherland Shire Sydney

Micklou · Apr 28, 2008 8:13 am

Hi,

We have been looking on and off for about 3 years for a design and I am interested to see if anyone else here has any advice for building in our area, or even how you have found building with the companies you have chosen. Our council has some pretty interesting rules regading building - I know they are probably not the hardest to satisfy but they are complicated and a lot of builders designs do not fit the criteria and they charge to amend them.

It looks like everyone here is really helpful but I have not been able to find any threads for people building in our area - maybe because I am a bit technically challenged!

Micklou

stonecutter1309 · Apr 28, 2008 8:48 am

Welcome to Homeone!

My parents built in the Sutherland Shire - they did a custom build - but the best advice I can get is:

* Check and double check the council's guidelines - even in person with someone at the Council offices
* Get all communication from Council in writing - never accept phone call assurances

Sutherland Council is one of the slowest in Sydney - they seemed to keep changing the requirements when my parents built 2 yrs ago - they would say one thing on the phone and then reject their DA in contradiction with the phone call!

Micklou · Apr 28, 2008 8:55 am

They certainly have a reputation as being difficult - I just think that there is so much confusion surrounding what they are trying to do - thanks for the tip about speaking with them in person as I had not thought to go that far!!

Southies · Apr 28, 2008 9:03 am

Hi there Micklou........

We will also be building in the shire. We have been in negotiations with our builder for a few months now & have pretty much sorted out most of our issues, though not all to our liking.

Yes, the shire council regulations are pretty tough. Particularly the setback requirements & floor space ratios - now, they're a doozie. But again I can see where they're coming from.......no sprawling areas of McMansions as in other parts of Sydney.

We're hoping to get our plans into council within the month, hopefully sooner. It'll be interesting to see whehter they get passed becasue our design encroaches on both the front & side setbacks due to the site being an irregularly shaped corner block.

Welcome.

Micklou · Apr 28, 2008 9:21 am

Good luck with everything Radds - I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Thanks for the welcomes from everyone!

lobo · Apr 28, 2008 10:30 am

We are building at Oatley, not far from the Shire and I have plenty of stories to share ..
at the moment i have found that the council does take its time and follows the rules by the book... But the Builder is the one who is taking a longer time to get moving.. I have not seen my final drawings inspite of getting Council approval..

Welcome to the forum

Judie · Apr 28, 2008 5:34 pm

If you think Sutherland Council is bad, you should try Ku-ring-gai! Lots of builders won't even touch Ku-ring-gai, so it's hard finding a builder in the first place. I just hope our plans go through relatively unscathed.

Judie