Tale Of Two Tribunals

On 29 September, after 5 months of complaints about illegal work on Unit 1 next door to me,
 I wrote a 28 page letter with dozens of photo's and delivered a copy to Neil Noye Of Hobart City Council, as well as the Managing Director Mr. Pitt of Pitt and Sherry as well as Government Minister David O'Byrne as well as the Greens (the 100 year old Walnut Tree is apparently dying -- 3 years of driving over roots with cars bobcats and graders might have something to do with it).

 The next day a Tribunal on Unit 1 was launched but no-one was informed because it was done in a "hurry." I was informed at 3.00pm the day before because I happened to be at Council with Tony Jacobs trying to get a meeting with Neil Noye. I made myself part of the proceedings along with Tony Jacobs who will be my advisor, adding another 7 points to the 5 points that Council are following.

Council has listed 5 points for a "demolish" order, but to my despair have left out what I consider the most important points, the Height and Setback discrepancies. A second Tribunal has been launched regarding the close to 100 year old Walnut Tree. It is apparently dying and Council have now given permission to cut it down. I am in an appeal, along with neighbours Alistair and Jenny Home.

What has me gobsmacked is that after 3 years of complaining about the tree being hacked with a chainsaw, driven over roots with all manner of mechanical devices, all of which I photographed and reported to Council but never heard a thing from, let alone a 3 metre barrier never being put up as required by Heritage to protect the tree which was deemed to have significant heritage value (a tape barrier was thrown around the tree just before a Council blitz towards the end).....now the tree is reported to be in poor shape!

I have made myself part of that proceeding too, alleging Unit 2 is built closer to the tree than planning permitted and also being built too high.

At this point Council is doing an "Audit" on Units 2, 3 4. A survey was done on Unit 1 and it was deemed to be "correct in height". This is a point on which I differ.

Mirroring

Spotted neighbours Alistair and Jenny talking to Mehrab-Khani today. And they were mirroring each others body language!

Persuant

I love it that Council are using 14th Century English to start off their sentences to the Plebs... Persuant to Act 8 (1) etc etc. I received a letter today from Council starting off with Persuant basically telling me I have 2 weeks to object about the latest modifications to the development, never mind that it was never built legally in the first place.

It's been advertised today and now we have 2 weeks to object to these changes in the development. This is like Yes Minister, they build a property that is out of specifications, then add even more illegal bits that even the architect never dreamed about. And Council say.."forget about what happened 5 years ago...how does this affect you NOW? (yes, they said that to me!)

Council have a fabulous techniques for ignoring the past, but it doesn't work for me. They build too high, take my daylight and privacy and then say...don't worry about it...what do you think of these latest additions? We have a balcony right outside your kitchen window, taking all your daylight wasn't that bad etc etc.

So we have 2 weeks to respond to to the latest raft of illegal additions before the other illegal additions have even been dealt with in Tribunal!

Tree Adjournment Fails--Full Hearing Dec 8

The attempted adjournment was turned down by Tribunal today, so there will be a full hearing to try to save the walnut tree on 8th Dec.

Parking Ticket Sets Him Off

I am sitting in my office and look out my window. A parking inspector is writing a ticket on and sticking it on Mehrab-Khani's black BMW. As I watch, Mehrab-Khani comes running, he tears the ticket off his windscreen and tries to hand it back to the inspector. The inspector doesn't want to know about it.

Then Mehrab-Khani launches into a tirade, calling us F..ing Pigs as he points to our house staring at the top window (he doesn't know I am on the bottom floor because our windows are tinted) and carries on shouting expletives, thinking we called the Parking Inspector (we didn't). The inspector has a look at what Mehrab-Khani is freaking out about then walks off, none the wiser. The tirade continues as he continually looks up to our balcony, thinking we must be upstairs for some reason. He moves his car and carries on giving our property filthy looks.

It's moments like this why I always have a camera charged and ready to go!

Walnut Tree Greening Up

The walnut tree that Mehrab-Khani wants to cut down is getting greener by the day. The Tribunal to consider the case for adjournment till January whereby the tree can be re-examined by an expert as to it's condition and health, is on tomorrow.

I have lodged a letter for the adjournment, as has neighbour Alistair via lawyer Craig Mackie and Council have said they will not oppose adjournment, leaving Mehrab-Khani to oppose it on his own. I will post the outcome tomorrow. Here is a pic of the tree today, 10th November 2010.

Amateur Hour

Two shipping containers have been boxed in. Mehrab-Khani phoned for a truck to pick them up today. Truck number 1 appears, the containers are on the right of the picture:

No luck, truck can't turn into driveway. Mehrab-Khani hits the phone:

Truck number 2 appears:

It can't get in either, but undaunted, Mehrab-Khani tells the driver to try again. Come out wider, he says:

Another conversation ensues.

"There is no hope," I hear Mehrab-Khani say. Truck number 2 drives off.

The next day he finds a shorter truck. Truck number 3 arrives and with some fiddling, manages to get the two shipping containers out and off site. Wouldn't it be a coincidence if two shipping containers arrive at Sandy Bay at 33 Marlborough Rd?

Walnut Tree Tribunal--Case For Ajournment Now Thur 11 Nov

Received an email today from the Tribunal. They are having a hearing on Thursday morning the 11th Nov to determine whether the case will be adjourned till January as requested by myself and Alistair + Jenny Home so that an expert can testify as to the condition of the tree in the summer dry season.

They have brought this forward from Dec 8. There is now a very real chance to save the tree  because Craig Mackie representing the Homes is seeking an adjournment till January, as am I, and Council have said they will not oppose such an adjournment. Leaving only you-know-who to oppose it. And in my opinion (being a layman, of course!) the tree appears to be fine. Time will tell.

The outrageous demands made of your time along with the lodging of $68 at a Tribunal (which are useless unless enforced!), all in the name of getting Council to do a job properly means that I have resolved to write a book on how to defend your property against Developers, building breaches and Council apathy.  It might be called something like Lies, Damned Lies and Developments.

A pic of the tree from a minute ago:

And from a few weeks ago when Tony and myself went to the Homes residence:

Walnut Tree -- Council Agrees to Cut it Down

In 2007 Mehrab-Khani took possession of 157-161 Bathurst St. On the same weekend he took possession, he started cutting the Walnut Tree, which has heritage significance, with a chainsaw and did not stop until I started taking photo's.

I sent them to Council and never heard from them again. In April 2008 along with my neighbour at 153 Bathurst St, we mailed a letter to Council complaining about Mehrab-Khani driving over the roots of the tree with a Bobcat and a car. I supplied photo's and have a copy of this letter. Nothing was heard from Council.

My wife and myself made two more phone calls as well as sending another 2 letters by email, one in April 2010, another on 10th May 2010. A generic response from Ross Willis of Hobart City Council saying that they received our letters about the lack of barrier that was supposed to be put around the tree, and that they would get back to me. He didn't. We also complained about the bobcats and grader and caterpillar driving around the base of the tree. Again I supplied photo's. The letter on 10th May was an 11 page letter detailing various breaches of building code and it was this letter that prompted a Council Blitz and inspection.

Mehrab-Khani was obviously tipped off about this because the day before the inspection in May 2010 he threw up a plastic tape barrier.

Notice even then was it a 3 metre boundary as required by Council. Meanwhile all types of excavation machinery around the tree carried on unabated.

On top of that I am also claiming that Unit 2 is built too close to the tree and too high, resulting in the branches being intertwined in the roof.

 

Now comes the interesting bit-- Mehrab Khani claims the tree is dying and wants to cut it down. (shock horror!) He supplies a letter from a tree expert from the Botanical Gardens that says it should be cut down. Council agree. We dispute this and Tribunal sets a hearing for 8th Dec 10. Now this would appear to be a cut and dried case of expert opinion prevailing, however Tony Jacobs does some brilliant detective work and seeks out the expert that was used in this assessment!

It turns out that the expert didn't really want the tree to be cut down at this point, but would have preferred to have waited until summer (it was assessed in June 10) to see how it handled the dry season, because there is a chance it can survive if it is fine at that point. We are now seeking to adjourn the Tribunal till Jan where we can get expert opinion on the condition of the tree in the dry summer season.

Thanks to some superb sleuthing from Tony, this issue is now alive again (pardon the pun). There is also engineering opinion that leaving the tree in the ground will stabilise the embankment that has already collapsed -- thanks to Craig Mackie for that. Craig is the lawyer representing Alistair and Jenny Home on the Melville side of the Development.

Last week I received a letter from Council lawyers, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I have complained about the treatment of the tree for over 2 and a half years, to tell me that when  Council became aware of the fact that there was no boundary, they enforced it!! Yeah, right.

This is pure fiction, I have letters and photo's with complaints going back to 2007 and nothing was ever done until an 11 page letter on 10th May 2010 initiated a Council inspection, and even then the "barrier" was not at 3 metres! All I can say to that letter is....where is the evidence? Where is the evidence Council acted to save the tree? There isn't any. There has been zero enforcement from Council to erect a barrier around the tree for well over 2 years.

 

Natural Ground Level Built Up

What do you do when you build up ground level a little too high and your boundary wall is so low a car could flip over whilst maneuvering up the driveway? You add a bit more height to the wall, of course!

My reading of the architect plans show that the difference in height from the front of the house at street level  to the back wall should be 700mm. It is far more than that, but I am a layman, what do I know -- the levels are correct I have been told by Council and Pitt + Sherry for the last 6 months.

What I find amazing is that they were building pyramids 3000 years more accurately than these Units at Bathurst Street.

Tribunal for Unit 1 Set For 20 Dec 10

The Tribunal for Unit 1 last Friday was put forward to 20th Dec 10. This will be crunch time. I am putting my neck on the block here by being 100% sure and stating it ahead of time that the height and setback has been wrong and that Council have been confused and/or apathetic for 6 months, not being able to work this out, whilst the Developer, Building Surveyor and Engineer have been fully aware of the height discrepancy and have actively sought to hide this fact.

We were told at the Tribunal on Friday that new applications are in and that the building surveyor Peter "I consider this OK" Ray was getting Sun Diagrams done! This to me indicates that they will be admitting incorrect height and are now in damage control, trying to minimise the harm the extra 12% height combined with incorrect top floor setback has on our property.

Tony Jacobs who has been assisting me has asked for all relevant documents to be sent to us before the 20 Dec. I will be able to see the new applications then. I have quite a few sun diagrams from 5 years ago when they were modeled on a lower building. The diagrams were done for the Tribunal 5 years ago which turned out to be a waste of time because of non-enforcement by Council, and now I am in another Tribunal with the same issues 5 years later.

The Sun Diagrams were damning then, and they will be damning now. The interesting thing is that I have 2 Sun Diagrams from 2 different companies and they don't match!! I am well ready for any Sun Diagram argument.

Court Diary for Mehrab-Khani 16 Nov 10 - 21 Jan 11

Thanks to Tony Jacobs for this:

Tues Nov 16^th,11.30,Magistrate’s Court,Liverpool St

Anti –Discrimination Tribunal Directions Conference (about the fifth,but the first this year).

Tues Nov 30^th,10.00 Magistrate’s

He to plead to a) breach of restraint Order re Tom Berger + b) to smashing my windscreen with his fist. He’s got 2 previous adjournments & said last time he’d not had time [in about 6 months] to get legal advice as he’d been working 7 days a week. Pleas of Not Guilty & adjournment to 2 trials dates are likely,but a PG to one or both is possible.

Wed Dec 8^th,(9.15) Resource Management & Planning Appeal Tribunal ,144 Macquarie St.

Mention of Appeals against Council decision to allow him to cut down 80+ y.o.walnut tree.

Adjournment to mid Jan will be sought as arborist says summer dry will tell if tree can survive or not.

Mon Dec 20^th 9.30 RMPAT,144 Macquarie-mention of HCC Application re breaches of construction permit at Unit  1 at 161 Bathurst St & re Tom & Kerrie Berger’s Application re Units 2-4.

Thurs & Fri Jan 20^th-21^st.Magistrate’s Court 10.00.

His multi- adjourned prosecution for Dishonestly Acquiring a Financial Advantage,contrary to S.252A Criminal Code. A date has been selected to avoid any clash with Supreme Court sittings.