Tribunal for Unit 1 on March 4th--ALL INVITED

Come on down, the best show in town. Tony and myself are going to take on Mehrab-Khani, Hobart City Council, Engineer Chris Potter, and Surveyor Peter Ray from Pitt and Sherry. Lets see the level of bias that has been going on. The smart money is on "Big Tony".

Council want to partially demolish the building, then decide to approve it (you wonder if bank accounts should be checked), from a  building that has many illegal breaches from Mehrab Khani. Of course the Engineer Chris Potter didn't know the set back was wrong, neither did Peter Ray, he emailed me several times to tell me the building was exactly in the right place! Chris Potter said "I thought it was right" at the Directions Hearing for the Tribunal. They are only Engineers and Surveyors after all.

The only one who knew what the setback error was was Council Lawyer Kirsten Turner (she seems to know everything), a pity she couldn't find the measurement she had "written down" somewhere.

The height?? It was right, Council surveyor said so. Pity they never mentioned Council Surveyor also said when asked that the levels on my house were wrong--they had added a metre in height to my house making the Development look smaller by comparison. Council has been hiding this fact for months!

Just when you think it cant get any worse, Council decides that a COMPLETE loss of sunlight into my lounge room is acceptable. The plans said I would have full sun on the shortest day of the year--I have zero sun on the longest day.

Never mind, Director of Council Neil Noye must have made a mistake. Maybe light can't travel around corners after all. Liz Wilson, HCC Planner notes that there was a vacant lot next to me originally, hence I would have received maximum sun at that point! I have NONE now...your point is... Liz??

"This should be rightfully tested in a tribunal", Neil writes. And it will be. Thanks Neil.

Reassuring that the average pleb is able to spend thousands hiring a planner and lawyer and go to Tribunal to tell Council that they are unethical and incompetent! And possibly corrupt.

How else to you explain it? A Planner visits my home to establish that illegal windows are only slightly above the boundary fence by taking a photo with the camera at a distance BELOW the fence line. This Planner, Liz Wilson also takes a photo of the "streetscape" from the angle that makes the Development look smaller, taken from the other end it looks bigger.

Liz also looks at the same sun diagrams that Neil Noye looked at and reaches an opposite conclusion! Same diagram, 2 different results! One with sun, one without. Look at 12.00 noon for example. Sun diagrams must be rocket science, right? Closer to Voodoo, none of the 2 sets of diagrams plus Potters match--what does this say about sun diagrams, let alone Council analysis?

Liz has 15 years experience as a Planner she tells us at the Tree Tribunal, but she gets a basic point of Planning Law wrong by comparing  what was built to what he could have built, when this is irrelevant--the fact that the building exists is irrelevant from a point of Planning Law. Liz says that the building would never be approved!! hallelujah. But then she stuffs up basic Planning Law saying in effect, well, its built, how bad is it? Read that again, Liz. The fact that the building has been built is irrelevant!

Of course it's not just Liz. Five years ago Planner from Hobart City Council, Claire Hester decided she knew what my home looked like and had sun diagrams done. She stuffed up the doors with the windows, didn't know where the lounge was, didn't know where the front of the house was (got it wrong in 3 different descriptions), yet decided that she knew enough to make a judgment about sun light in my house when she didn't even know the layout of the house!

Did I complain? Of course. Claire was NOT interested in visiting my home, but I note she did share a few jokes and chuckles with the Developer at a preliminary hearing at the time! I submitted photos with flags up on flagpoles showing that shadow lines, and protesting that no sunlight would enter my lounge.

Director of Council Neil Noye had something to say about this? Yes he did. He said that the neighbour (that's ME!) had "Doctored" the photo's, it was nonsense he said, I would receive unlimited sun after 10.30am in winter.

Net Result? My "doctored" photo's showing NO light at any day of the year turn out to be more accurate than Council Sun Diagrams.

Note: To doctor is to falsify or change!! Not one to mince words is Neil. Well, five years later the building is built, and Neil turns out to be wrong, not me. You can only tell how wrong sun diagrams are AFTER the building has been built. It's built, and Director Of Council, Neil Noye is the one that is wrong.

Liz Wilson obviously has enough experience to pass a building with multiple illegal building breaches, but it seems she is not experienced enough to defend her decision at a tribunal. For that they are calling Ian Stanley, head of Planning. He couldn't figure out setback either. Lets see how he does on the rest.

Lets stop Hobart City Council from walking over people, taking kickbacks or whatever they take to pass illegal buildings. Turn up at the Tribunal 144 Macquarie Street, Level 1 on 4th March.