In this 10-episode video series, Colin Fragar, our founder and CEO, shares the top ten things to know about achieving council approval.
Click on the “Play” button below to watch Episode 7 now:
Or for those that prefer to read, here is a transcript of the video…
Hi Everybody, Colin Fragar here from Council Approval Group. Today we’re talking about blind spots in dealing with the council. And so far, we’ve been going through Your Ultimate Guide to Council Approval. And if you haven’t got a copy of this already, please go to our website, you’ll be able to get one there.
Recap: Mistakes #1-6
If you have a look at the blind spots or mistakes that people make in dealing with the council, we’re up to number seven now. So, just to recap really quickly, some of the key mistakes that people have made, and hopefully, you’re not making them because you’ve already watched this video, are:- Spending money on plans before you know what your development options are.
- Spending money on plans before you know what the rules are.
- Settling too quickly on one development type before knowing all of the development scenarios that are possible on your site, basically shortchanging yourself.
- Ignoring what you can do without council approval. There are actually quite a few things you can do without achieving council approval.
- Talking to Council before getting advice from a town planner.
- Having your proposal rejected at the front counter and you just get blindsided from that.
Mistake #7: Doing Building Works Without Approval
So, don’t you love that word blindsided? You just kind of get smacked in the face from the side and you don’t see what’s happening? Number seven is kind of a little bit of a sad one. Because I think what happens is that some people are misled. Some people take a risk and some people just do the plain wrong thing. And that is that they do building works without achieving council approval.And if you do building works without council approval it cannot always be approved retroactively, whether it’s changing a basement into a habitable area, adding an extension, or hanging windows. All those sorts of things, which we think, oh it would just be so easy if I got the tradesperson to do that right now. And the tradesperson says, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, you don’t need council approval.’
Every single week, we get a phone call from a client or potential client who’s about to get fined by the council or has been fined by Council and that fine is significant. It can be $5,000, or in the order of around that, per day. And I just want to make sure that you don’t get blindsided. So whatever you do, do not do illegal building works. Do not do works without achieving council approval.
Get Your Advice for Achieving Council Approval
If you’re thinking about doing any sort of building works, please talk to our team first. The little bit of money that you might spend with ourselves will save you thousands of dollars in Council fines and a lot of heartache down the track. We actually, I remember it was a couple of weeks ago, we had somebody call us with this scenario and they ended up having to demolish this entire illegal granny flat. It had just like cost them $100,000 plus to build and I don’t want that to happen to you.If you have you feel like you might have done the wrong thing, there are still some things that we can do for you. So make sure you book in your appointment because there is a way to be able to get council off your back to get the right approval in place.
My name is Colin Fragar. If you haven’t already go to councilapproval.com.au and book in your appointment to speak to one of our consultants. They’ll be able to work out a clear roadmap and make sure you don’t get blindsided with a council fine.