Council cans builder prosecution

The council let the builder “get away with it”, according to one councillor, due to his inexperience in the sector and his signs of regret.

The initial resolution to take legal action against the business followed a dispute between two Wannanup neighbours over the placement of a shed.

Residents complained after their next door neighbours built shed too close to their home, breaching their building permit.

They complained it had a “detrimental impact on our ability to enjoy and live peacefully in our home”.

“The shed does not respect our existing property and existing neighbourhood character,” the residents said. 

They said the shed was built to block the view of their living areas from the neighbour’s property in order to preserve their privacy and it didn’t affect the amenity of the area.

The council voted on May 10 to take legal action against the shed builder for infringing the building permit and approved a change in R-codes to allow for the shed to stay with some conditions.

However, the council decided to retract their decision on Tuesday night due to it not being in the public interest to continue.

“There are times where people do make genuine mistakes and this is one of them,” councillor Dave Schumacher said.

He said the young builder was only starting his business, and he was inexperienced and unaware a prosecution could take place when he built the shed.

Councillor Shane Jones said he believed a mistake had been made and expressed his support to “let this guy get away with it”. 

The motion, however, met the opposition of councillors Tahlia Jones and Caroline Knight.

The builder will have to pay the council’s legal expenses during the prosecution proceedings to date.