Demolisher who knocked down Rye weatherboard house without proper approvals heavily fined
A veteran demolisher with nearly two decades’ experience didn’t apply for a council permit to knock down a Rye weatherboard house. Now, the “oversight” has cost him dearly.
South East
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A forgetful demolisher who knocked down a 1970s weatherboard home without a permit has been hit with a massive fine.
Daniel Norman Ellis pleaded guilty to a building code violation at Dromana Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after an alert neighbour saw his machinery smashing a Rye house in March.
The court heard the quaint old-fashioned weatherboard’s owners engaged Ellis, who has been involved in the industry for 18 years, to knock down the house for a $15,000 fee in February.
He agreed to demolish the house, remove the materials and asbestos and provide a permit.
Works began but Mornington Peninsula Shire Council received an anonymous complaint and checked the paperwork to find no permit had been applied for.
A council officer visited the site and found the block had already been cleared. But signs belonging to Ellis’ company were still attached to the fencing.
A belated application was submitted and then approved.
When the shire interviewed Ellis he admitted he had done the demolition work and it was not applying for a permit was an “oversight”.
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Ellis, who represented himself in court, said it was a mistake that would not be repeated.
“It was quite simply an oversight due to the workload I had at the time,” Ellis said.
“Everything else was above board, the removal of asbestos was done safely.”
Magistrate Ross Betts said people in the construction and demolition business knew full well how the application process worked.
“This is a bit more than carelessness, isn’t it?” Mr Betts said.
“Permits for works have a primary purpose of public safety.
“(Applying for them) is just so basic.”
Ellis, who had no priors, was fined $20,000.