<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/10/matt-bruce-poured-his-life-savings-into-a-tiny-home-now-byron-bay-council-wants-to-demolish-it>
"When Byron Shire council wrote to Matt Bruce to inform him it planned to
demolish his tiny home, it included the number for crisis accommodation.
“Council acknowledges that the attached … Demolish Works Order … may have the
effect of making any resident of the subject dwelling homeless,” its letter
reads. “Therefore council provides the contact details of the following
agencies to assist in finding alternative accommodation.”
For three years, Bruce, 38, has lived in his tiny home on the edge of his
friend’s 57-hectare property, 15 minutes outside Mullumbimby, in the New South
Wales northern rivers.
The tiny home is self-sustainable, has solar panels and comes equipped with a
composting toilet.
Just before floods hit Lismore about 20 months ago, Bruce was sent a letter
from the council asking to inspect his home.
Council officers determined it was a permanent dwelling, and to avoid
demolition, it needed to go through building compliance procedures. Bruce says
the council gave him a grace period to prove the dwelling could be moved, which
would mean it could be classified as a caravan. Then the floods hit.
Bruce, a war veteran who served in Afghanistan and Jordan as a
telecommunications engineer, has stared down the council and mounted arguments
for why the home is not permanent and he should be allowed to stay.
The council now says if he moved his home next to the main property on the
block it would become compliant – but Bruce claims this would cost him
thousands of dollars and seems pointless.
“We’ve got 140 acres of land, and you’re forcing us to have houses next to each
other,” Bruce says. “It makes no sense.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
