Wollondilly Council tell mother to demolish granny flat after initially being granted approval

A Silverdale mother who has already spent $60,000 on a granny flat has been told to demolish the half-finished building as anger grows about Western Sydney Airport’s impact on local planning rules.

Single mother of five Kayla Rosso has enough on her plate without having to deal with a local council backflip that could now cost her tens of thousands of dollars.

Ms Rosso, whose kids are all under eight, received DA approval in March 2021 to put a granny flat on her 700 sqm block in Silverdale.

She paid the $7000 DA fee and the tradies commenced work.

But those works have stopped after the council sent her a demolition notice.

“I received a letter from Wollondilly’s Council stating that I stop work on the granny flat and that I have three days to demolish the granny or find a solicitor,” Ms Rosso said.

Silverdale resident Kayla Rosso with daughter Mariah at their property which she has been ordered to demolish. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“I have already spent $60,000 on the granny flat but don’t know what I can do with it.”

Ms Rosso’s development was knocked back because of state government regulations preventing secondary dwellings in areas where the new airport flight paths will be.

Half the granny flat is now a dormant building site.

The constant heavy rains come in through incomplete windows and doors.

Ms Rosso’s pro bono lawyers managed to negotiate with the council to allow tradies on site to put covers on the property to stop further damage.

They are trying to negotiate an agreement whereby the granny flat would not have a full kitchen and thus not be considered a secondary dwelling but she would have to submit a new DA for that.

Silverdale resident Kayla Rosso, with daughter Mariah (1yr old) and sons Levi (green shirt) and Levi (blue shirt). Kayla said she paid $7000 in DA fees to get approval for her granny flat. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But the matter will remain in limbo for the next three weeks while the council and the NSW Department of Planning interpret how airport planning rules apply here.

“I hate it how the council lied about this and tried to hide things,” she said.

“They deny sending me the letter to demolish.”

Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould said: “The restrictions on secondary dwellings in Silverdale due to the new Western Sydney Airport operations are an issue for the NSW Department of Planning, which brought in the changes in October 2020 without any meaningful community consultation”.

“Council is advocating strongly for these residents and calling on the NSW Government to change these unfair rules or at the very least provide a transition period so those with secondary dwelling applications already in the pipeline can have them considered under the previous planning rules,” he said.

“We’re also doing everything we can to support residents unfortunately impacted by this NSW Government decision with a hope that the Minister Planning intervenes urgently.”

NEW NOISE RULINGS SILENCE A SUBURB

It is the Sydney suburb where the sound of buildings being erected has been silenced by rules about future noise.

In the Fairfield local government area, located to the airport’s east, owners are facing similar problems to Silverdale residents.

Horsley Park father of three Martin O’Connell wanted to put a granny flat on his property to help his kids but he never got around to it.

Only days before the government slapped a ban on granny flats and subdivision in his suburb because of potential aircraft noise in 2063, he was told about it.

Horsley Park's Martin O’Connell says he is unable to put a granny flat on his land because of onerous planning rules around the new Western Sydney Airport.

Now he is left with no possibility of putting a secondary dwelling on his land.

“Why can’t the government change the rules so we can build a granny flat but just have noise mitigation measures?” he said.

“We were never consulted about this because we are not in the aerotropolis precinct.

“The biggest distress is for existing landowners.”

Mr O’Connell said residents in nearby Mount Vernon were subject to the same freeze.

Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone said “these rules stop anyone from building a secondary dwelling yet under the same rules they can still build a high-rise in Drummoyne, which is subject to even higher aircraft noise”.

“At the time, the government put a display on at Liverpool and Penrith libraries but did not notify individual landowners,” Mr Carbone said.

“The government should either be compensating landowners for their losses or allow them to get on with their lives and build the property that they want to build.

“They just need to give them back their building rights.”

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