Elliott Watkins: Court determines Tamarama home redevelopment after legal challenge

A YouTube gamer who shot to fame after dropping out of his law degree has settled a legal challenge against his local council over redevelopment plans for his eastern suburbs home.

A YouTube gamer who shot to fame after dropping out of his law degree has settled a legal challenge against a local council over redevelopment plans for his multimillion-dollar eastern suburbs home.

Elliott Watkins, best known by his fans as Muselk, has been given the green light by the Land and Environment Court to modify a $6.5 million redevelopment of his Tamarama beachfront home after the plans were refused by Waverley Council earlier this year.

The modifications include raising the pool terrace level by 58cm, adding privacy screens to kitchen windows, additional excavation work, changing the internal layout of the home, adding a new bathroom and steam room, and removing a eucalyptus tree.

Watkins – whose YouTube videos are followed by nine million subscribers – lodged the plans in January and launched the legal challenge after the council failed to determine the proposal by February, and was therefore deemed refused.

Plans to the council show the $6.5 million redevelopment would stand three storeys tall and include a double garage, three bedrooms, a swimming pool and outdoor decking.

There would also be a new lounge, home office and a bar.

A photo of the current home which is set to be rebuilt.

The plans come after the 27-year-old bought the home for $9.1 million in 2020. It was previously owned by cinematographer Peter James who snapped it up for $250,000 in 1981.

A council report shows the proposal attracted concerns from neighbours over privacy impacts, the “bulk and scale” of the home, a 1.6m breach of the 8.5m height limit and potential loss of their ocean views.

Elliott Watkins has nine million YouTube followers. Picture: Instagram

Development plans, however, stated the project had been designed to “avoid adverse impacts” including on the “visual amenity and scenic qualities of the coastal headland”.

Land and Environment Court acting commissioner Alan Bradbury in his decision said he was satisfied the development would not cause an adverse “environmental impact”.

An architect’s plan of the home.

The development was approved on 46 conditions including a limit on construction work from 7am to 5pm and 8am to 3pm on Saturdays.

NewsLocal contacted Mr Watkins for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Watkins, whose YouTube videos regularly amass more than one million views, entered the gaming world after dropping out of his commerce and law degree at the age of 20.

At the time, he was interning for Gilbert+Tobin, a prestigious law firm which advises on regulatory disputes from its head office in Sydney.