Sydney council rangers crack down on plants in affluent suburb

Residents and business owners in an affluent pocket of Sydney have hit back after being slapped with huge fines from their local council.

Leafy streets are often the hallmark of ritzy suburbs where plants adorn laneways, footpaths and shade diners outside cafes.

But in one upper class Sydney neighbourhood some of this greenery has been labelled a public safety hazard by the local council.

In Underwood St, Paddington, several residents and business owners were this year told to remove pot plants and furniture after a complaint was made to Woollahra Council.

Those who didn’t ended up receiving hefty fines of more than $600 from council rangers.

A beloved local cafe has even been hit with $1500 worth of fines - for the crime of installing a wooden bench for customers to sit on.

Then in May, up to 14 letters were sent to residents and businesses whose properties back on to a laneway full of well-tended pot plants saying they had just days to get rid of them.

Petra O’Neill was shocked at the letter.

The laneway used to be a dumping ground for rubbish but is now full of bright, colourful plants - much to the community’s delight

The narrow walkway between Underwood and Dudley streets used to be an illegal dumping ground until locals gradually turned it into a garden during the Covid-19 lockdown years.

“It’s really brought the community together,” Petra O’Neill told news.com.au.

“If we are all focusing on greening our neighbourhoods this is something the council should support us in.”

Fines threatened in the letters did not come to fruition and the council is now supporting residents to make an official application for the laneway to be approved as a verge garden.

Paddington ward councillor Harriet Price said holding off on the fines was a sensible move and she hoped the “little urban oasis” was retained.

“It’s a much loved laneway, it’s very well looked after,” she said.

“I certainly think it’s a positive for the neighbourhood.”

Cr Price pointed to the success of Darlinghurst’s Hayden Lane garden as an example of a similar project that has been embraced by the community.

Hayden Lane was featured on an episode of the ABC’s Gardening Australia after residents also transformed it from a dumping ground during lockdown.

One resident was fined $635 for these plants.

A notice stuck on a pot plant.

‘Lighten up’

Elsewhere on Underwood St, one resident says she has refused to pay a $635 fine for having pot plants outside her terrace home of 15 years.

“I really did treat it as a joke,” Nicola Harvey-Hall said.

“I’ve never had a fine in my life. I don’t drive.

“The plants were beautiful. Everybody loved them.”

Revenue NSW is now chasing the unpaid fine, sending a letter saying sheriffs could take the money from her wage, bank account or selling goods she owns to recoup the cash.

Next door on Underwood St is James Martin’s Tuckerbox cafe, which has received two fines this year – totalling about $1500 – for having painted boxes outside for customers to sit on.

The owner of popular coffee shop Tuckerbox says he’s received fines.

The community library set up across the road.

Last week there was a narrow wooden bench stationed up against the frontage of the cafe.

Across the street, the shop has also set up a community library full of books and a park-style seat on the corner.

Mr Martin said the size of the fines were “ridiculous” and a blow to small businesses like his that are facing tight economic conditions.

“At the end of the day all we are trying to create is a place for people to sit and enjoy a coffee,” he said.

Mr Martin said it was important for authorities to “lighten up” so businesses could create a vibe in the city.

He was also aware of another local business which was fined for having a sandwich board outside.

Complaints made

In a statement, a Woollahra Council spokesperson said a complaint was made about footpath obstructions in December “relating to pot plants and furniture placed on footpaths”.

“Following assessment by Council staff, a number of residents and businesses were contacted with a request to remove the items.

“In mid-January, written notices to remove items which remained were issued and in February, penalty notices were issued for noncompliance.

“No further penalty notices have been issued.”

The spokesperson explained it was an offence to place anything on a road or footpath that is likely to “restrict or endanger their use by the public or interfere with public convenience”.

“The penalty amount of $635 is set by the NSW Government,” they said.

A-frame signage – or sandwich boards – are also banned under the council’s local environment plan and can’t be placed on public land.

The laneway garden came to the council’s attention following a separate complaint, the spokesperson said.

“While residents were advised that the articles must be removed under NSW Road Regulations, no further action has been taken and no fines issued by Council,” they said.

“We are currently assisting residents who wish to make an application for this space under our Community Gardens Policy.”

Ms O’Neill was hopeful the garden, which has finished best runner-up in a local competition, would eventually get the council’s official approval.