Sanctuary Cove residents in bitter war over Robert and Janice Buttner’s boat, pontoon size

A Gold Coast man has suffered a setback in a bitter war with his millionaire neighbours over the size of their boat.

Sanctuary Cove residents Robert and Janice Buttner.

A Gold Coast man embroiled in a bitter war with his millionaire neighbours over the size of a boat moored at their pontoon and whether the pontoon extends too far into the harbour, has failed in his bid to take part in a tribunal case alleging they breached community by-laws.

According to a decision by Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Danielle Brown, Maxwell Gordon Leslie complained to the body corporate of the exclusive Sanctuary Cove gated community about a new pontoon and building works completed by his neighbours on gated street The Parkway.

Mr Leslie complained to the body corporate that Robert and Janice Buttner, who made their fortune founding the Australian Security Company, had breached the development approvals and by-laws of the body corporate in their renovations.

The house at The Parkway, Sanctuary Cove, owned by Robert and Janice Buttner.

He claims to have been the “driving force” behind the body corporate taking action in QCAT.

In her ruling handed down on April 17, but published online on Wednesday, Ms Brown said it was not necessary for Mr Leslie to be a party to the case brought against the Buttner’s by the body corporate.

The Sanctuary Cove body corporate is taking action against the Buttner’s in the tribunal alleging their pontoon works were non-compliant with development approvals, conditions and plans granted in September 2022.

The tribunal case, which is yet to go to final hearing, relates to claims that a vessel moored at the Buttner’s pontoon is bigger than the “load and length” stipulated in the pontoon approval and conditions.

The body corporate for the resort-style community also alleges the pontoon extends beyond the boundaries of the Buttner’s lot and into the harbour which also contains the well-known marina.

The house at The Parkway, Sanctuary Cove, owned by Robert and Janice Buttner.

They also allege the Buttner’s have failed to give information about the vessel and an engineering certificate for the pontoon.

The QCAT case is also set to decide on whether the location and size of a guest bedroom window on the ground floor of the Buttner’s house, which faces Mr Leslie’s home, meets body corporate standards.

The Buttner’s told the tribunal that Mr Leslie’s home is far away from their pontoon so can’t claim to be affected by it.

They also submitted that Mr Leslie has put a screen on their boundary fence that obscures the view from their guest bedroom window, without body corporate permission.

Mr Leslie says the screen improves his privacy, and he has told the body corporate that he is “genuinely concerned about the … contraventions and non-compliances” by the Buttner’s had a “serious impact” on his “amenity and privacy” in his home.

Robert and Janice Buttner.

Mr Leslie bought his house for $2.875 million in October 2009, while the Buttners paid $3.1m for their four-bed, five-bathroom luxury property in December 2020.

The body corporate submitted to the tribunal that there was “a long history of antagonism between” Mr Leslie and the Buttner’s.

Three years ago Mr Leslie lost a legal battle against the Buttner’s in the Supreme Court with Justice Sean Cooper ruling Mr Leslie had failed to establish that the realignment of the Buttner’s swimming pool and works to the rear terrace did not comply with the Development Control By-Laws and that the works had “limited impact” on Mr Leslie’s home amenity.

Mr Leslie also failed in the Supreme Court to get an injunction to stop the Buttner’s building work.

The house at The Parkway, Sanctuary Cove, owned by Robert and Janice Buttner.

Ms Brown refused to allow him to be joined as a party to the QCAT case because she believed Mr Leslie’s claims made in the Supreme Court case indicated he wished to “agitate a much broader range of issues” about the Buttner’s renovation than just the pontoon and the guest bedroom window.

“If joined as an applicant, Mr Leslie would seek to expand the scope of the issues in dispute to the terrace works,” Ms Brown concluded.

Originally published as Sanctuary Cove residents in bitter war over Robert and Janice Buttner’s boat, pontoon size