Marion Council mayor wants to negotiate over fate of ‘unlawful’ treehouse

An “unlawful” treehouse a suburban council says must be pulled down could be saved – but the mayor says the dad who built it must negotiate.

Marion mayor Kris Hanna says he hopes a local resident can negotiate with council to bring his “unlawful” treehouse structure back within compliance regulations.

A tense dispute between Joe Statton and Marion Council has reached boiling point after it demanded he pull down a half-finished treehouse he built for his teenage stepdaughter.

The council has given Mr Statton 28 days notice, which expires on Thursday, to remove the treehouse he built for his stepdaughter, Zenayah, 13, or it would “initiate enforcement action”. Mr Statton is refusing to take down his stepdaughter’s personal retreat.

Speaking to ABC Adelaide this morning, Mr Hanna said he hoped for a “happy ending” in the dispute.

“What I would say to Joe is, have a chat, make it really clear with the staff what you’re planning to do,” he said.

“There are other restrictions on height, distance from boundary, all that sort of thing, but I’m sure the staff are prepare to calmly work all that through.”

Marion City Council declared this was a deck. Picture: Supplied

In a letter sent to Mr Statton and his wife, Tanya, on March 9, a council compliance development officer said the treehouse needed to be removed because they had not sought approval for its construction.

“The structure is neither a cubby/treehouse by definition but is more accurately defined as a deck … unfortunately council have no record of this structure being approved … to this end, the structure is unlawful,” the letter said.

However, Mr Stratton said the treehouse was not finished and that the council had not provided him with its definition of a treehouse or offered the option for him to complete its construction, which would include enclosing the existing structure with walls on two sides.

“I haven’t done anymore on it because I didn’t want to and find out we have to pull it all down,” he said.

According to the council, cubby houses must be less than 5sq m to be exempt from requiring development approval, while Zenayah’s measured 6.25 sqm.

Mr Statton, 45, said he was not provided with the option by the council to make the treehouse smaller to ensure it complied with regulations.

Mr Hanna said if he reduced the size and the structure complied with all other regulations, it could stay.

“If it’s within that exemption, which is you know, we’ve talked about five square meters, then there’s no need to do a development application, as long as it complies with everything else,” he said. “I don’t even know personally what all the rules are.”

Mr Statton said he was prepared to make it smaller.

“That wasn’t made clear to me, but if that’s the line they want to take, I’ll have to make it a bit smaller,” he said.

“I’ve actually measured it and it’s about 5.5sqm, so if I need to, I’ll shave a bit off it I guess.”

He said he built the treehouse for Zenayah so she would feel more at home after relocating from Gawler with her mother to live with Mr Statton.

“It’s like a little space away from my parents,” Zenayah said.

Delilah, 11, and Zenayah, 13, enjoy the view from the Seaview Downs treehouse. Picture: Matt Loxton

“Me and my friends have tea parties up there. We like to go up there and relax after school.”

The letter also said “retrospective approval” may be applied for but there was “no guarantee council will support such a proposal as it is highly visible from the street” and “may result in a loss of privacy to immediate neighbours”.

The council also cited the treehouse’s proximity to nearby powerlines as a potential safety issue, however, a Department for Energy and Mining spokesman said the structure met compliance requirements.

“A representative from the Department for Energy and Mining attended Mr Statton’s property and assessed the site for compliance … the DEM representative measured the distance between the cubby house and the overhead powerlines and found them to be compliant,” they said.

Mr and Mrs Statton said the letter was “out of the blue” after their initial conversation with him and that later interactions over the phone were more hostile.

“The phone call felt a bit bullying,” Mr Statton said.

A council spokesman said the treehouse had been anonymously reported to the council on two occasions over its “prominence in the streetscape”.

Zenayah’s treehouse measured approximately six square metres, the council said.

The council added that its employees conduct themselves in a “professional and respectful manner” and say their standards “were upheld in relation to all inquiries relating to this matter”.