Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to repossess Carrickalinga house, according to Yankalilla Council

A fixer-upper or a demolition job — all options could be on the table for the notorious, semi-built beachside property that was seized by the bank after its owner didn’t pay a rates bill.

Yankalilla Council says the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has taken possession and intends to sell this Gold Coast Drive house at Carrickalinga

As far as prime beachfront real estate is concerned there are few locales to rival the esplanade of Carrickalinga on the state’s Fleurieu Peninsula.

Here properties command million-dollar price tags, unbroken ocean views and access to a beach Lonely Planet voted South Australia’s best.

But one house in this tightly held idyllic holiday destination is expected to hit the market, marking the latest chapter in its controversial history.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has taken possession of notorious 9 Gold Coast Drive, an unfinished two-storey house on the esplanade owned by Wirrina Cove marina operator Stephen Marks.

The Carrickalinga property.

The property has been at the centre of a long-running dispute between Yankalilla Council and Mr Marks after he built the property a metre taller than approved plans and failed to pay a $26,000 rates bill stretching back nearly four years.

The council’s chief executive, Nigel Morris, said it was advised on March 1 that the bank had taken possession of the house, nine days after councillors voted to forcibly sell the house to recoup its rates bill.

“The council understands that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank wish to sell the property,” he said. “If the property is sold by the bank, the council’s rating debt will be paid in full.”

Under the council’s proposed conditions of sale, any buyer would have had to demolish the existing house, which residents have previously described as an “eyesore”. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank would neither confirm nor deny if it had taken possession of the house, which usually occurs when the owner fails to pay the mortgage.

Mr Morris said the development approval for the three-storey Gold Coast Drive property had lapsed.

“The council is considering its position on the lapsed approval and its ability to act in this regard, which could possibly be impacted by the sale of the property,” he said.

Environment Resources and Development Court Commissioner Richard Green described the property in 2017 as “unacceptably dominant”.

Carrickalinga Residents Association secretary Chris Mather said they hoped someone would modify the unfinished house. A property at 24 Gold Coast Drive is on the market for between $1.2 million and $1.25 million. Law firm Botten Levinson also has claimed a stake in the 9 Gold Coast Drive property with the District Court charging against the house more than $10,000 owed by Mr Marks’ companies to the law firm.