Planning expertise doesn't stop years of property woes for Eltham couple

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'If this could happen to us, it could happen to anybody.”

When Jan and Gary Hancock subdivided their sprawling Eltham property in 2008, they knew what they were doing.As part of their subdivision to protect the home from being overlooked by neighbours on the new title, the planning and property experts put a strict condition on the title to make the new home work in harmony with theirs. They had lived in the house for decades, and designed it to nestle carefully into the landscape.

Nillumbik approved the designs but, in a move that would set off almost a decade's disputation, they never told the Hancocks about what had happened. “If this could happen to us, it could happen to anybody,” said Ms Hancock, who argues the council's regular use of a procedure it terms 'miscellaneous consent' is not legal.asked Nillumbik what 'miscellaneous consent' was; the council's response did not make the process clear.

As well as no obligation to give the Hancocks notice of the new plan for the house next door, Mr Philipp also said privacy laws meant they could not access the designs either. “Only the property owner or mortgagee is authorised to request access to building plans for a property,” he said. In the case of the Victorian Building Authority, where the Hancocks went over the failure of their neighbour's building surveyor, they won their case – only to see the surveyor walk away with a reprimand and a $1500 fine.

 

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