Carrickalinga residents demand Yankalilla Council take tough stance over beachside ‘eyesore’

ONE of South Australia’s premier coastal retreats has turned into a battleground over the construction of a beach front house which residents say is an eyesore and blight on the landscape.

Carrickalinga Ratepayers Association members John Lawrence, David Catherwood and Chris Mather outside the controversial property at 9 Gold Coast Drive, Carrickalinga. Picture: Picture: Dylan Coker

RESIDENTS at a luxury South Australian coastal retreat are challenging the construction of an 8m-tall beachfront house they say is an eyesore and blight on the landscape.

Carrickalinga Residents Association is demanding Yankalilla Council force owner Stephen Marks to abide by a court ruling and reduce the height of his Gold Coast Drive property on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The long-running saga centres over Mr Marks’ partially built property the council approved in March 2013 to a height of 7.99m – 50cm above its own planning guidelines.

But the council discovered two years later – following neighbours’ concerns over the building’s height – that Mr Marks had built to 8.87m and ordered him to stop construction.

Mr Marks, who operates Wirrina Cove Marina, lodged a retrospective application which the council rejected, triggering his appeal to the Environment Resources and Development Court.

But Commissioner Richard Green in February rejected Mr Marks’ appeal and said the property was “unacceptably dominant” and did not match with neighbouring properties.

The partially-built property at 9 Gold Coast Drive, Carrickalinga, is nearly a metre taller than what was approved. Picture: Dylan Coker

The matter is set for another showdown on Tuesday when council’s assessment panel will debate a revised proposal from Mr Marks to reduce the building’s height by 49.5cm to 8.375m.

The revised height would be 38cm taller than what was approved and 87.5cm higher than the council’s own guidelines.

CRA president Dr Chris Hughes said the panel should reject the proposal and return the matter to the ERD court for a decision.

“The council needs to be requesting that the court make an order for demolition that is to standard development guidelines,” he said.

“If he built to what was approved I would still be upset but I think we would be able to back down.

“We would love to see it taken back to a two-storey building because it is an eyesore and it’s a blight on the visual impact of Carrickalinga.”

A neighbour, who owns three properties at Carrickalinga but declined to be identified for fear of repercussions, said the changes proposed by Mr Marks were a “token attempt at disguising a grotesquely tall building”.

“People say down there it (the house) can be seen from the moon,” he said.

“I pay more rates down there per property then I do for my house in Adelaide . . . what are we paying all these rates for when the council is not protecting us from issues such as this?”

CRA secretary Chris Mather said the saga had been a series of errors from the council and the owner that had led to the council spending “considerable” ratepayer funds for legal advice.

“I don’t know what the outcome will be but it needs to change from what’s there,” he said.

Yankalilla Council chief executive Nigel Morris said he expected residents would not be happy with Mr Marks’ revised plan.

“They have expressed their opinion towards me already,” he said.

He said there could be potential legal ramifications if the revised proposal were rejected or approved.

Mr Marks, who is at the centre of a class-action over his company New Wave Aerospace’s management of the Wirrina Cove Marina, could not be reached for comment.