Happy to have assisted another small developer who has tried to dip its toes into property development by making an application to Council for a duplex development with granny flats at the rear of each proposed dwelling.
Council initially resisted the application, because whilst the development was permissible in the R2 residential zone, the building of the duplex and granny flats all at the same time (and before subdivision) now categorised the development as multi dwelling housing which became prohibited in the zone.
Proceedings were commenced in the Land & Environment Court, and Council insisted that the duplex had to be constructed and have a Final Occupation Certificate issued before the granny flats could be built, which would have made the construction of the granny flats in such a confined space difficult and prohibitive.
Thankfully, as part of the court process, Council were persuaded to issue a staged development consent where the duplexes and granny flats would be built at the same time, but the granny flats not finally completed (i.e. the kitchen still to be installed), which got the client over the permissibility argument and allowed a development consent to be issued.
A difficult case for a small-time developer, but a very pleasing result in the end.
We look forward to seeing the final product once it is finished.
