Demo man Darko Krajinovic ditches Full Court appeal but Hobart City Council’s quest for costs continues

The developer who illegally demolished his heritage-listed Hobart house has dropped his Full Court appeal, the Mercury can reveal.

Property developer Darko Krajinovic outside the Supreme Court in Hobart last year.. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

THE developer who illegally demolished his heritage-listed Hobart house has dropped his Full Court appeal, the Mercury can reveal.

In February 2017, Darko Krajinovic used an excavator to all but destroy his 1885 Mount Stuart home without a Hobart City Council planning permit, with plans to build four townhouses on the property.

The unauthorised demolition caused asbestos fibres to be released into the air.

He also cut down two significant trees, an Irish yew tree and bay tree, without making an application to the council.

The case outraged residents and community leaders.

Krajinovic pleaded guilty to nine offences relating to the incident and was fined a total of $225,000.

DEMOLITION MAN COPS SIX-FIGURE FINE

He appealed the fine to the Supreme Court as being “manifestly excessive,” but lost that appeal in August last year.

DARKO LOSES APPEAL AGAINST FINE

Debris was being loaded into plastic lined bins at 55 Mount Stuart Rd in Mount Stuart. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

In rejecting Krajinovic’s appeal, Justice Robert Pearce said the $225,000 fine was only 62 per cent of the maximum penalty which could have been imposed.

“I have no difficulty in concluding that imposition of heavy financial penalties in cases such as this one will cause others weighing up the potential risks and benefits of development, to think twice before acting in breach of the planning laws,” Justice Pearce said at the time.

Krajinovic had filed to also appeal that decision and the case was due to go to court on March 13.

But a notice of discontinuance has been filed in the Full Court which withdraws the appeal.

“Our solicitors will be pursuing the appellant for the council’s costs in this matter,” a Hobart City Council spokesman said.

Krajinovic will face the Hobart Magistrates Court in May on a new set of charges relating to his alleged removal of the stone footings of the remaining structure at the Mount Stuart property.

DEVELOPER BACK IN MAGISTRATES COURT

He entered not guilty pleas to the new planning and construction-related charges, including failing to ensure demolition work complied with the Building Act, failing to engage a building surveyor, undertaking development that is contrary to a planning scheme and undertaking development that constitutes a breach of a condition of a permit imposed by a planning authority.