Adelaide businessman Lance Vater resolves legal dispute with Burnside Council over shipping container ‘tower’

A legal battle has quietly been resolved between Burnside Council and a flamboyant self-made millionaire over a shipping container tower with a "message from God".

Lance Vater had vowed to fight Burnside Council over a shipping container which he has erected on his property at Auldana. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

• Former Burnside Council chief executive Paul Deb speaks out

A protruding shipping container on the foothills property of self-made millionaire Lance Vater has been removed without legal intervention.

Burnside Council had initially taken action in the Environment, Resources and Development Court to force Mr Vater to remove the structure from the entrance of his Auldana property, which was visible in sweeping views of Adelaide.

But Burnside chief executive officer Chris Cowley said the shipping container, which features a large cross, was removed without court orders and his interactions with Mr Vater in regards to the removal of the structure were amicable.

"We chose not to go down the court route and engage lawyers, we chose a negotiated outcome, which was slightly longer, but I feel produced a better outcome for the community, “ Mr Cowley said.

Mr Cowley advised Mr Vater to remove the structure by October 21, and it was taken away on October 7.

"I'm pleased to say his team reached out and informed us when they could get the equipment to site," he said.

Mr Cowley said the removal of the structure was a challenge logistically. "Bearing in mind the container was up on its end, and required a very specialised bit of kit to handle," he said.

In September 2020, Mr Vater said he had spent about $10 million transforming the former olive orchard and mine site into a private “Garden of Eden” visited by gardening enthusiasts from across the country.

At the time, Mr Cowley said there had been  "numerous complaints from the community" about the container.

The shipping container erected by businessman Lance Vater could be seen from across the gully at Auldana. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

The self-made multimillionaire, who grew up in Saddleworth trapping rabbits, had vowed to keep the 10m-long shipping container, arguing it was intended to be an elevator shaft to move building supplies.

The container had been located at the top of a driveway which leads down to a proposed building site.

“We were putting it in and we hit a rock,” he said.

“The next we knew a council ranger came at 7.32pm on a Sunday and threatened to prosecute me and the crane driver if we didn’t stop work.

“I am a religious person so I thought maybe God wanted me to leave it there so I put a cross on it.”

A crane placing the shipping container at the centre of the dispute between businessman Lance Vater and Burnside Council at Auldana. Picture: Colin James

Lance Vater became an internet sensation when one of his Rolls Royce cars got flooded during a storm while parked with its top down at Glenelg.

Mr Vater, who has had a strained relationship with Burnside Council reaching back to when he bought the 2ha of land in 1978, said in September last year it was never his intention to break any planning laws.

“I have had shipping containers here for 25 years to stop pilfering and theft,” he said.

“That one was going to be a lift shaft and then we hit the rock.

“We were going to sink it further when the council ranger told us to stop. It is their fault it looks like it does.”

Mr Vater said only a handful of neighbours had complained to him about the container, which he built at a factory he operates at Cavan.

“I only know of three people who have objected, the others all love what I have done here,” he said.

“I am a law-abiding citizen who does not break the law.”

Mr Vater said at the time he had spent “thousands and thousands of hours” landscaping in preparation for a large luxurious house he planned to build, which would feature a 15-car garage, caretaker’s quarters and large entertaining areas.

Lance Vater in the huge private garden he has created at Auldana. Pic Tait Schmaal.

He had been intending to open the property at the corner of Knox Ave and Wyfield St to the public “so people know that I am not the rascal that the council is making me out to be”.

“I avoid going to court like the plague but I have no option but to fight,” he said.