Brisbane City Council excuses Crisafulli house height breach
The Premier’s wife has been excused by Brisbane City Council after renovations to a Queenslander she bought in one of the city’s richest postcodes accidentally made it too tall.
The wife of Premier David Crisafulli has been excused by Brisbane City Council after her renovations to a Queenslander she bought for $1m in one of the city’s richest postcodes accidentally made it too tall.
Tegan Jaye Crisafulli applied on September 26 seeking a green light from the council after the height of her newly renovated three-bedroom Bulimba home was roughly 250mm taller than the 9.5m height limit.
“The exceedence of height is limited to a very small lateral portion of the roof, being approximately three metres,” a letter to council from Mrs Crisafulli’s senior town planner Fraser Gassman states.
“The building height exceedence has been mitigated as much as possible by removal of a protruding architectural feature, however, an exceedence of roughly 250mm remains,” he wrote.
In his decision handed down on November 7, Brisbane City Council planning officer Adam Mewing approved Mrs Crisafulli’s bid to change the development permit to allow it to breach the height limit.
“I am satisfied that the proposed building work does not: have an extremely adverse effect on the amenity or likely amenity of the locality; or be in extreme conflict with the character of the locality,” Mr Mewing, a team manager, wrote.
Mrs Crisafulli paid $1.025m for the home in August 2023 then demolished part of it and renovated it.
“When surveyed for building height compliance, a small exceedence of the required 9.5m building height was discovered at the western end of the dwelling house,” Mr Gassman wrote to council on September 24.
“This was unintentional and cannot be easily rectified through construction given its location. “Hence this application seeks to review any potential impacts of the exceedence to ensure it can remain in place and maintain compliance with the Planning Scheme.”
Council approved the renovation of the pre-1947 Queenslander within the traditional building character overlay on 20 February last year.
Most of the demolition was at the rear, or west-facing side of the home, and included the kitchen, bathroom, dining room, deck and part of the lounge room on the first floor, and the laundry on the ground floor.
The home was not raised, but excavation created a new ground floor level, proposed plans filed with council state.
The kitchen - plus butler’s pantry - dining area and lounge leading out onto a patio are now on the ground floor, along with a double garage and workshop.
Upstairs there are five bedrooms and four bathrooms, complete with a second family room, and with the master boasting a walk-in wardrobe and a private balcony.
The plans show a new pool in the backyard and an electric entry gate was due to be added to the new front fence, with modwood decking to the front door.
The house sits close to the Brisbane River and within walking distance to Bulimba’s Oxford St.
In his register of interests to parliament, the Premier states he has six mortgages with Bank of Queensland and an overdraft with Bank of Queensland.
Mrs Crisafulli also owns a three-bedroom house in Condon, a suburb of Townsville. She has owned it for 20 years, property records state.
In April 2021, she sold a Hope Island house for $2.35m that she had bought in 2015 for $1.338m.
A Brisbane City Council spokesperson told The Courier-Mail that all planning decisions are made by council’s independent planning officers.
