The well-heeled residents of one of Brisbane’s most prestigious riverside streets have banded together to block a house development they say will compromise their water views.
High-flying lawyers Damian and Monique Scattini, prominent barrister Darien Spence and one-time champion waterskiers turned water park entrepreneurs Mick and Karen Neville are among eight residents of exclusive Morley Street, Chelmer, embroiled in a legal row with Brisbane City Council.
The multimillionaire residents of the affluent, south-western suburb have taken action against the council and landowners John and Justine McLeod in the planning and environment court of Queensland, following the approval of the McLeods' three-storey, 31-metre home on a sloping, narrow block of land with absolute river frontage in February.
The approval came despite vehement opposition from neighbours.
The McLeods bought the 805-square-metre vacant block for $950,000 in 2012.
Neighbours objected to the couple’s house plans on the grounds both the length and the height of the house exceed those permitted in City Plan 2000.
They allege its 9.5-metre height contravenes the 8.5-metre maximum allowed in the previous City Plan 2000, which was usurped by City Plan 2014 on July 1 this year.
The new City Plan allows for maximum building heights of 9.5 metres, partly as a flood immunity measure.
The residents further allege the development’s 31-metre length far exceeds the 25-metre maximum applicable under the previous City Plan’s small lot code and the overall size of the home will not be compatible with neighbouring and surrounding dwellings.
The Scattanis, who occupy the neighbouring property, also objected to the council on the grounds the house will block sunlight and daylight to neighbouring homes.
In the notice of appeal lodged with the court in March, the residents also claimed the house would “result in negative impacts upon the views or outlook of neighbouring and surrounding dwellings”.
Mr Scattani, who is acting as spokesman for the residents’ group, was unavailable for comment during the week.
But in their submission to council before the development’s approval, Mr and Mrs Scattini described the proposal as “demonstrably non-compliant” and said, “no sufficient planning grounds exist which justify an approval of the proposed development”.
Chelmer was one of Brisbane’s worst hit suburbs in the floods of January 2011.
Mr Scattini, a solicitor at Brisbane law firm Maurice Blackburn, is leading the class action of flood victims against the operators of Wivenhoe and Somerset Dam.
In an interesting twist, his wife Monique bought the couple’s absolute riverfront property for $1.75 million just months after Chelmer flooded in 2011.
Council records show that, when Mrs Scattini bought the property in 2011, pre-approval had already been granted to extend the building length beyond the maximum 25 metres and above the 8.5-metre height limit in certain sections.
It is the neighbouring property to the one the controversial new home is set to occupy.
Real estate data shows house values in Morley Street range from $1.5 million to $3.5 million.
