Keeping tabs on the neighbours

Rhodes Avenue & Lena Ahrens Road Intersection - Glenwood, Pigeon Valley UIP

Are illegal developments on the increase in the Pigeon Valley Urban Improvement Precinct?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that they are. 

Nick Alcock, a director of the UIP, noted that in his road in Glenwood, three traditional family homes were now being rented out to five to eight lodgers each, while a fourth was operating as a B&B.

“I am just pointing out the changes that are happening in our community and why we need to remain vigilant and active.” - Nick Alcock

Richard Thring, UIP manager, said they had received 16 complaints or inquiries on suspected illegal building, student accommodation, suspected illegal property use and abandoned or derelict buildings since its inception.  

Of these, two have been resolved, three were ongoing and most of the rest were only recently received, he said.

Thring said the numbers did not indicate an explosion of unauthorised trading from residences or widespread flouting of bylaws and zoning regulations in the suburb. But he agreed it was wise to be vigilant, adding that enforcement of bylaws remained a concern.

Glenwood architect Paul Dekker warned that developers were sometimes dishonest in their applications and that their true intentions weren’t always apparent to municipal officials.

The zoning rules could be complicated, said Dekker, and it was hard for officials to identify which procedures needed to be applied or to “foresee what’s not being said by developers”.

Developers will most often explain that there’s renovation happening to improve the quality of the building which has become dilapidated, when in fact additional rooms are being created, in the case of dwellings being converted to student accommodation, for example.

Similarly, developers may be dishonest in their applications which are then approved.Later, when it dawns on neighbours what’s happening, and noise and nuisance complaints follow, redress can be hard to achieve, said Dekker.

“It's often way after the fact, where the developer has already spent their funds and seen some proceeds return. They’re too deeply invested and will put up a fight to maintain their rights to operate.”  —  Read more about how to identify a problem property.