Neighbours dobbed in for roping off nature strip in Copacabana
Having other people cars parked out the front of your house can be a bugbear. But spare a thought for a couple of Copacabana locals who were dobbed in for just trying reinstate their grass.
Central Coast
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Parking is such a premium at Copacabana someone has taken to reporting neighbours for roping off their nature strips to let the grass grow back.
It comes as Central Coast Council has been accused of overreacting to the complaints and removing the offending bunting without warning.
After 30 years Hardy Albrecht finally got around to building a detached garage out the front of his Del Monte Place home so it would be level with the road on his sloping block.
When the work was done, Mr Albrecht, aged in his 80s, spent $500 on soil and turf and set about re-establishing the nature strip.
He asked his builder to put in four star pickets and some red-and-white plastic tape so no one would park on the freshly laid grass.
But when he got back from holidays the pickets were gone and he had a note from a ranger telling him it was causing “obstruction to nature strip”.
Mr Albrecht said the council had been promising to upgrade Del Monte Place “for years” with kerb, guttering and a footpath but instead wasted money on the unfinished Winney Bay Clifftop Walk.
Across the road his neighbour Patricia Davis had also roped off her nature strip after spending “$3000 on turf” and landscaping.
But instead of makeshift tape she said she went to Bunnings and bought proper orange marking rope complete with reflective tags.
But again she said someone complained and the ranger took her rope as well, however the white PVC safety posts were left in tact.
Ms Davis said she was so intrigued about who complained she spent $30 and made a formal request under the Government Information (Public Access) Act to find out but it was declined for privacy reasons.
“To me the moral of the story is people who were investing in their homes and trying to make their area look nice, because the council doesn’t have the money for sidewalks and gutters, they should be allowed to do so,” she said.
A council spokeswoman said nature strips were regulated under the NSW Government Roads Regulation 2018 and activities such as planting trees, laying concrete or any other type of works on the nature strip, may require an approval.
“Residents are advised to contact council before undertaking any work on nature strips to enable appropriate advice to be provided,” she said.
“Council’s main concerns of any works are public safety and to ensure nature strips can be used as intended.”