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Martin De Ruyter / Things
Terry Grooby looks over his border fence in Motueka at a former classroom that blocks the sun from his 50-year-old home.
A developer was ordered to fix an old classroom that blocks the sun from a neighboring retiree’s house.
Terry Grooby, 84, diagnosed with cancer and less than two years old, wanted to enjoy that limited time at his 50-year-old Motueka home, but says the “monstrosity of a building” on the other side of the fence it is blocking most of your sun. It is also causing you to lose sleep.
Tasmania District Council environmental and planning manager Dennis Bush-King said a notice had been issued to repair the old classroom, one of two buildings in the subdivided section of Courtney St, as it did not had a construction consent before being delivered.
“There are a number of issues that need to be resolved within the advisory, namely the proper distance from the boundary, height, and associated planes that are likely to affect neighboring properties,” Bush-King said.
“If the requirements of the notice are met, a Certificate of Acceptance will be issued to the building to allow the completion of the project, which will include some work with amenity value as contemplated in the resource consent.”
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Martin De Ruyter / Things
Ever since he spoke publicly about the “monstrosity” next door, Terry Grooby says he has been getting a lot of support from people, as far away as England.
Terry Grooby said he had received a lot of support from as far away as England since he spoke publicly about the “monstrosity” next door.
“People enter from the street; they are well behind me. “
I would have had no objection to a “nice little place” on the site, but the old classroom was large.
“Winter has to come,” Terry Grooby said. “I will have very little sun.”
Grooby’s son Dean Grooby, who has built several houses in Christchurch, said the council should have issued a notice to remove it, not a notice to fix the old classroom.
“This guy [developer] I should take this off the site … he hasn’t provided any plans, ”said Dean Grooby. “It sets a precedent so that anyone can do what this person has done. It’s a mockery of the building code. “
While plans were provided for a relocated home on the other lot, there were none for the old classroom.
“A specific relocatable dwelling has not yet been obtained … and therefore consent for generic dwelling is sought,” says the council’s land use consent decision.
The subdivision and land use consents for development were issued by the council without notice.
MARTIN DE RUYTER / THINGS
Terry Grooby, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is appalled at how a relocatable building was moved to land next to his home in Motueka, ruining his final months.
Dean Grooby said a building should not be allowed on the site until a full application has been submitted and approved “once it has gone through the regular construction and acceptance process like everyone else.”
“I’m sure the construction industry would love to know that this is the precedent they are setting,” he said. “If I have a relocatable of any kind, off-site, I can take it to a section of my choice. In the worst case, I get a notice to fix it. I can’t understand how this is happening. “
Motueka Ward Councilor Trindi Walker said the notice to fix gave her “a ray of hope” that the situation could improve for Grooby.
MARTIN DE RUYTER / THINGS
Terry Grooby says that he misses the camellias and rhododendrons that he used to see and care for along his boundary, which had been removed as part of neighboring development.
Although he supported escalation, “it has to fit in.”
“This doesn’t fit,” Walker said. “It is blocking your sun. If Mr. Grooby hadn’t jumped up and down, how would this be picked up?
Dean Grooby said that he had written to the council’s executive director, Janine Dowding, about the situation and that he had also contacted the Ombudsman.
“My father doesn’t have the time … or the money to fight this and he relies on the law to protect his rights.”
Bush-King said the Courtney St project represented a type of residential intensification within the existing suburbs “and is being promoted as a means of increasing the housing stock.”
“The council seeks to provide a variety of options for residential living and has chosen not to rely solely on the development of new areas on the outer edges of our cities,” he said. “It is accepted that the intensification will provide a different perspective to those who already live in the area with the final visual treatment depending on the level of investment of the developer.”
