I'm talking about a safe, structurally sound, functional and durable cubby house, not just 3 panels of plywood nailed to a tree.
I see pretty nice 2nd hand ones for sale on marketplace sometimes, and wondered whether it would be much trouble to build one.
Thanks
Thanks.
Speak with your local council
Not necessarily good advice. I phoned my council, curious about the rules for those inflatable temporary pools.
His words said I needed to submit a building application with a $400 fee, and I would get a response in maybe 8 weeks. But I think his tone was saying something else.
Then your next phone call should be to ICAC.
Could have punched that into a search engine.
Cubby houses and play equipment used for children's play do not require a building permit.
However, a structure with a different purpose (such as to accommodate sleeping) would need a permit.
https://www.vba.vic.gov.au/consumers/home-renovation-essenti…
Thanks, but doesn't it vary depending on which council?
It shouldn't. Unless you are building something enormous (eg more than 10 square metres of roof space) or you're planning to connect services to it (such as a toilet and kitchenette) I've never seen a single council require approval for those kinds of structures.
There might be a couple of strips, mostly older inner city areas or near national parks/on the coast, with heritage or significant landscape overlays where putting something in the front yard or another highly visible location might trigger a complaint from the neighbours, but you will be aware if you're living in one of those area.
It may vary depending on which council. That is why asking the question on OzB is largely pointless, given how many different councils the various OzB members are residents in.
Good idea, just put the granny flat up in a tree - take THAT council!
spacious 1 bed, no bath no garage, 30m extension lead and 4 port arlec power board for power - $600/ week
Haha, no thanks I'm not interested in having strangers living in my backyard.
'A stranger is just a friend you haven't met.'
:)
*no pets, stable income, immaculate reference check required
totally agree. even your wife/husband/love of our live, she/he was a total stranger, right?
I am just a simple paperboy, no romance do I seek
just put the granny flat up in a tree
good idea if the in-laws are sleep walkers.
Mr. Wongingtons, when may my family view this charming residence? Could we install our own 6 port power board?
Also, are there any Drop Bears?
In the time you've typed this out and read replies you could have called your local council and obtained the correct answer.
it also varies within the same council, we moved to 'hills face' zoning = nothing with a roof without permission
.
You've never tried to talk to a council planning department before, have you.
If you have to ask permission then it isn't your backyard.
Just sayin'
So you'd be happy for me to put a large radio antennae in my backyard next door to you?
There's many, many reasons why council approvals exist…
OP said he wanted to build a cubby house for the kids.
Asking this question validates why we need a referendum in Straya to ask whether we want local govt or not. God knows we don't need it.I say it's a trough. A magnet for developer and other vested interest influence.Where there should be standard and basic regulatory standards there isn't. There's nothing democratic about the way they exist or behave.
The admin are time/money wasters, service delivery is slow,expensive and unreliable. Rangers are reactive rather than proactive.
Councillors more often than not (slightly less in some remoter regions) have an agenda. Rarely are they held accountable
There is nothing local does that a state govt couldn't and shouldn't do.If each area needs a citizens jury to guide state govt decisions, even better.And local govt has WAY too many protections to shield them from true accountability. Elite local govts (where the richer suburbs are) are basically enclaves that control who lives or does business there.
I would love to say just build a cubby, but because 'social media' images ,it would eventually come back to bite you.
Damn, OP just wants to know if he can build a cubby house and you want to start a revolution.
LOL, the model is so broke he had to seek validation online. No-one needs to start a revolution, they just have to stop sleeping through the apathetic haze that consumes us.
If we didn't have local government / councils, how would the manufacturers of bin lids make money by producing so many different colours?
You mean the lids on the multiple bins that ALL end up contaminated, or filled with toxic crap ppl want to dispose of free, and that all end up in landfill anyway? LOL.
Our behaviour demands one big fat greasy bin only. The average Joe is screwing the whole model for the poor few who do the right thing. Yet we all pay increasing $$$ for the broken system, via multiple taxes / levies /charges. Too many humans.
I'm happy to opt in on the condition "the model works". And neither local govt, nor most of the stuff they do, does.
One persons spending is another persons income. We will just keep creating new useless jobs to keep people in work, and as such the cost of living will continue to go up. The money printer will be fired up to get new money into the economy to pay for this, which is essentially just robbing our future selves.
There is no free economy, as everyone deserves to have a job, even if they are useless and add no real value.
I've told my local councilor to his face that I've never had to deal with an organisation that is as incompetent as his. Wherever I've encountered one that's even close to as bad I've been able to switch my custom to someone better. I told him that I'd made a submission to a state enquiry that the only plausible reason I could image that they were spending lots of money to cut down all the beautiful big mature trees that lined the streets was that someone at the council was getting kickbacks from the contractors in return for having ratepayers money going to them.
I'll give you an example. I live next to a reserve that connects two streets. Rather than drive around the block some people drove through the reserve. Only to find there was a fence at one end that stopped them. The council removed part of it. Then had 8 tries at building a replacement fence. At one point one council crew came and put up a fence - posts with a lockable gate - only to have another turn up the next day and pull up half the posts and change it to a different style - post and rail, with just an opening not a gate. Only for another crew to turn up two weeks later and rebuild it with new materials 5 metres further back from the road.
Yep. A literal trough . Many have tried to expose that local govt is not even constitutional, but lost thousands $$ trying.
It is an inefficient addon that no longer does what it was designed to do, and should be scrapped, and we (the people) should have that choice via a national referendum. And the laws should be reformed either way so that corruption or nepotism etc = jail time.The core duties should return to state govt control immediately.No REA or developer or business person aligned with local services benefiting from council decisions should be allowed to sit for council.
Once ICAC has drained the Canberra swamp they should go after LG corruption
On the pessimistic side, removing local government means that developers have less people to bribe on bigger projects. At the moment, they'd need to get both the local and state governments on side.
@Chandler: To which I say ICACs job to tackle corruption on high.ICAC wasn't there before.
The current model expects local citizens to do the digging, and oversight, and the LG can block that scrutiny in multiple ways.LG can even use council money to sue residents for spurious defamation cases, and can threaten legal action against local ratepayer groups who speak up.
Cess pool.
They removed the trees to minimise the possibility of litigation due to a branch falling on someone. Their insurance broker would not cover them due to this risk.
So solution is: cut down all the trees. Who needs those pesky trees anyway. They harbour those disease infested flying rats that crap on everyone that happens to walk under them.
Great point. Look at the rate payers in Sahara. No trees & all cashed up. They can spend their days lolling about poolside in Greece. ….Oh wait….
We've already had 2 (at least) referendums on this issue and we voted NO both times. The governments therefore unlawfully instigated the 'local government acts' under the state governments anyway. They just did it in a different way but the effect is still the same. Yet most people still believe in the democracy unicorn. I just don't get it.
Apathy + $$$$ = status quo.
The mushrooms are happy as long as they are fed bullshit. They are gorging on on it. (wilfully)
which counc il?
Depends on your council, the one we are with said you can't build a cubby house closer than XXm to the fence or over XXm high…when i called they said you have to set it back 5m from the fence which sat in the middle of my garden.
I just built it anyway - but just made sure the neighbours were on-side with it.
Don't get me started on building a shed…..ermagherd.
Let us know when it goes on AirBNB.
Do You Need Council Approval to Build a Cubby House in Your Backyard?
Every council is different, so head to their website and look it up.
What if there is absolutely no mention of "cubby houses". Yeah, I know I should call them.
Just build it. Put some wire on it somewhere, add a hand drawn sign that says chook yard and move on.
Just tell the brown shirts at council, when they bash your door down, to purse off, you're waiting for your flock to be shipped.
cubby house would be classed as a shed…. There will be rules for a permit needed for a shed over a certain size.
Just do it. Don't ask for permission. Its only a cubby house.
Who is going to complain about it or bring it to the attention of the council, and will the council actually do anything about it?
Worst case is they ask you to pull it down.
Its not exactly an expensive expedition, so worth taking the risk as the penalty is only minor.
You don't need to seek permission for everything you do in your life. It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
OP is asking for Ozb validation, not council permission.
The tribe has spoken, stuff..
Not if you are going to rent it out to Albo-Modi families
Yes my council made a house owner pull down cubbyhouse
Don't go with Metricon. lol
Speak with your local council in relation to permits needed for larger cubby structures. Each council has different requirements. Some councils have relaxed rules where as some other councils have strict guidelines.