Aqua apartments shed stoush lands Gold Coast neighbours in court

A stoush between two retirees at a Gold Coast unit complex, which began after a shed was allegedly built on common property, has landed the men in court following allegations of escalating violence between residents.

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A STOUSH between two retirees at a Gold Coast unit complex, which began after a shed was allegedly built on common property, has landed the men in court following allegations of escalating violence between residents.

The disagreement has led alleged shed owner Robert John Hill to seek court orders against his neighbour John Lipman, 75, after he claims he was threatened with “bodily injury” and fronted by a group of residents in the basement of the Aqua apartments at Labrador last year.

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The pair appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court for a peace and good behaviour application earlier this week, which was adjourned.

But documents lodged in response to Mr Hill’s application have accused the man of himself being an aggressor to a number of people at the apartment complex.

Mr Hill’s application claims that in December last year, Mr Lipman, the former chairman of the apartment’s body corporate, got out of a basement lift and began yelling abuse nearby the bike storage area.

Aqua apartments at Labrador. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Mr Hill claims in another incident he was speaking with a tradesman when he was approached by Mr Lipman and a number of other residents.

Mr Hill claims he feared things between he and Mr Lipman were going to “get physical” on December 11, 2020.

“I believed had it not been for the repair man I would have been assaulted,” Mr Hill alleges.

But in a reply to the application, Mr Lipman claims the allegations are a “complete fabrication” and he “did not say a single word” to Mr Hill when entering the bikie storage area.

Court documents allege issues between the pair have been ongoing for a number of years.

“Mr Hill has had a vendetta against members of the committee almost from the time he arrived in the building … erecting an illegal shed on common property,” Mr Lipman said in his reply to the application.

In a document lodged in the court, one Aqua body corporate member claims he and a group of residents were painting the garage on December 11, when Mr Hill referred to him and Mr Lipman as “f***wits”.

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Aqua apartments at Labrador. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

The document alleges there have been ongoing disputes between the residents over the shed and the body corporate has twice faced the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management over the issue.

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The same document lodged in reply to the application also claims that there are 65 notes in the body corporate records about Mr Hill’s “antics” including that he allegedly physically assaulted other residents, urinated in bottles and poured them down a drain and caused damage to vehicles.

“He has in the past arranged to have a common property gate on a kayak cage welded in the middle of the night to stop owners putting kayaks in there,” it has been alleged.

The matter has been listed in Southport Magistrates Court for a hearing in March. 

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