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Council taking 75 year old to Court to evict her from home

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Council taking 75 year old to Court to evict her from home

Jun 26, 2025 Carpe Diem

Council taking 75 year old to Court to evict her from home

It started 30 years ago around 1994 when Aileen Hughes wished to build a living quarters in her large farm shed. As the property was allowed to have a dwelling under the planning scheme, she asked Council what she needed to do to build the living area. Ailleen claims Council said she could construct the living unit, and works were conducted by local builders and septic system was installed and serviced ever since.

Aileen said: “I was told, if I built over 100mtr off Rd, then I did not require a permit, standard for that time. Near or about 12mnths later, I again approached shire to ascertain if I could build a self-contained/granny flat area inside the shed. No probs so long as qualified trades ppl, all septic, plumbing, electrical etc were adhered to.”

Apparently Council records were not updated at the time to reflect these changes and Council continued charging Aileen rates for the property categorised at Vacant Rural. Effectively she was paying the same rates as if it was categorised as Residential with a dwelling so that was not a problem as such.

Around 2015 Council revamped the rates categories and as an encouragement for owners of vacant residential land, Council doubled the rates payable on such properties. Aileen did not realise her rates doubled for that reason thinking she was in a dwelling not on vacant land. The rates notice whilst correctly showing vacant land also might have confused by showing it was residential classification.

Council sent out an officer around this time and when the officer left, she said that Council would be in touch. The Council officer should have been aware at that time that Aileen was paying double rates as her property was classified as vacant residential land and not residential.

Aileen continued paying double rates on her property.

After 8 years of silence, Council again contacted Aileen and arranged a visit around Sept 2023 in which they conducted an investigation of the property.  They took pictures, asked lots of questions and caused Aileen lots of stress.

A report was then produced at Council and Aileen was sent a letter in Oct 2023 informing her that she was living in a farm shed conversion without a building permit and she needed to respond to the latter within 30 days as to why living in this building should not be prohibited.

The reasons stated as to why this notice was sent to Eileen was due to Building works carried out without a building permit and building works carried out that contravened the building regulations. These contraventions were listed as performance requirements for the building such as structural stability, rainwater management, weatherproofing, rising damp, wet areas like bathrooms, room heights, lighting and ventilation. It was not claimed that there were problems with these matters, just that Eileen needed to satisfy Council that these matters were not occurring.

Aileen responded, but not to the satisfaction of the officers and so correspondence was despatched by Council repeating the request for Aileen to respond to various matters and this continued until early 2024 when Council sought legal advice from Council’s lawyers.

After receiving the legal advice Council cancelled the report from Oct 2023 and issued a new report. Council then sent a new letter demanding Aileen respond.

This new amended report now gave the reason why the notice was served as being due to the dwelling being a danger to life, safety or health of people inside it. A list of unproven reasons why the building may be unsuitable for habitation were given which roughly matched those given in the initial report. That being performance requirements for the building such as structural stability, rainwater management, weatherproofing, rising damp, wet areas like bathrooms, room heights, lighting and ventilation.

An additional reason was given as follows: It has not been verified that contaminated air is being disposed of in a manner which does not unduly create a nuisance or hazard to people in the habitable part of the building.

A freedom of information request was then submitted to Council and a 4cm thick pile of documents eventuated. The interesting thing about the report from Oct 2023 was that most of the pages were blacked out with Council claiming the details were part of a working document. A standard ruse by Council to keep hidden, details that might be embarrassing to them.

The Oct 2023 report shown here page 1 was followed by mostly blacked out pages hiding the report details. Photographs were shown of the different areas, but no problems appeared evident in any of the photos so no evidence of any of the concerns as raised in the notice from Council appeared evident.

Later in the pile of released FOI documents was the same report but upon turning the page over, page 2 was no longer blacked out except for one clause. On this page was stated the following as seen in the picture.

The section titled Conclusion said:
4.1 The only immediate risks identified by shed being used for occupation is the absence of smoke alarms. The owner was verbally directed at the inspection to immediately install a smoke alarm above the entrance to the bedroom to mitigate fire risks.

The page also stated in 3.1 that there is a record for a septic permit and a service history.

Section 2.5 stated that “Whilst it had been on site for approximately 30 years, Council’s records did not reveal a building permit for the shed.”

Section 2.4 stated that “All building works related to the habitation of the building are independent of the shed structure.”

Section 4.1 in the conclusions section was blacked out. The reason used being working documents.

After 8 years paying double rates it is estimated that Council collected around $10,000 more from Aileen than she should have paid if the rates notice had correctly indicated a residential dwelling and not vacant land. It should also be noted that Septic permits can not be approved on vacant land and at the time of the application for the septic system Council would have known of the dwelling.

Aileen is scheduled to attend Court July 10th, 2025. Let’s hope the Courts asks Council to amend her rates and give her a refund.

Maybe also allow her to remain in her home.

Aileen standing in front of her 30 year old home
Most pages in the Oct 23 report were hidden
Page 1 of the Oct 2023 report
Page 2 of Oct 2023 report
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“It is clear that not doing anything is no longer an option.”-South Gippsland Council statement on Coal Creek

Dec 17, 2023 Carpe Diem

Coal Creek discussion paper starts off by stating a decision needs to be made about its ongoing operation, continued relevance, and sustainability.

The scene is set to lead the community through a process eventually leading to a foregone conclusion. Read on.

The document says it is a starting point for a community engagement process to decide the future of Coal Creek. It implores the reader to read it carefully, explore the options presented and of course, share their thoughts and ideas. Council says it is committed to taking action on the outcomes of the engagement process.

Council claims that despite recent strong events such as the Southern Lights Festival that attracted thousands of people, that underneath this lies a financial and structural reality that they say cannot be ignored.

They say that budget constraints limit the Park’s operations and development. The bulk of Council’s budget allotted to operations goes to maintaining the status quo, paying staff, maintaining buildings, and running the events and activities within the Park.

Despite current maintenance levels which Council has admitted will not stop the continuing decline in assets the report says that recent inspections reveal that many buildings and other infrastructure need repair. They claim the estimated investment could be significant if all buildings and structures were to be refurbished over the next 5-10 years.

Editorial comment: This newspaper has been highlighting the lack of investment on maintenance for 18 months now and showing the rot within many of the assets in the Park. This Council report also fails to indicate the financial commitment from Council required.

Visitor numbers have fallen from a high of 68,770 in 2013/2014 to 23, 564 (Jan-Oct) in 2023. Volunteer numbers post covid have grown from 3 in 2021 to 30 in 2023. Most people visit the Park for events, displays, and natural settings.

The operating budget for 2023-24 is $838,073 which includes major costs for administration and wages, utilities and tramway maintenance and insurance. The capital works budget also includes $114,000 for the whole Shire’s heritage buildings maintenance works.

Coal Creek is Crown Land and Council is the delegated authority to manage the area. Council is also delegated to manage the Memorial Hall and related buildings which is also Crown Land.

Council is seeking feedback on 3 options:

Option 1: revitalisation


This option involves continuing Coal Creek’s current operations while adding new activities and attractions. The key challenge is the need for funding to address operational and safety issues and the necessity to innovate beyond current offerings to significantly boost appeal. The opportunity lies in the potential for increased visitation, enhanced community engagement, and a positive impact on the local economy, particularly through hosting diverse events, festivals, and educational programs.

Summary Continuing current operations with additional activities and attractions to increase appeal.

Option 2: new direction


The community may identify a new direction for Coal Creek through the engagement process, provided it meets the strategic planning requirements outlined earlier. This ambitious approach may require significant investment, including external funding, and the challenge lies in managing large-scale development while aligning with community values. The opportunity here could be transformative – turning Coal Creek into a sustainable tourism attraction that offers long-term benefits to the community.

Summary A substantial shift based on recommendations from the engagement process.

Option 3: ceasing current operations


Ceasing operation as a Community Park and Museum is not a simple task. It involves deaccessioning the collections and dismantling the buildings and will require extensive community consultation.
The challenges here are significant – it would be an expensive and lengthy process. The costs would include wages, demolition works, storage and deaccessioning of the collection, legal fees, and security during the closure period. It’s noteworthy that the collection’s removal, a more time-consuming process than demolishing buildings, would necessitate three full-time curators over three years to complete. Council would face a significant financial burden in managing this process, ensuring appropriate standards in handling the collection, and meeting its obligations to the community and the site’s heritage. The process also involves complex logistical challenges and potential resistance from the State Government regarding asset relinquishment. However, this option offers the opportunity to re-purpose the land for new community needs and reduces long-term ongoing operational expenses.

Summary Ceasing operations involving deaccessioning collections, dismantling buildings, and extensive community consultation.

Editorial comment: Previous external reviews of the opportunities such as the report into a school camp proposal which showed the potential to turn the financial situation around to a positive cash flow opportunity have simply been shelved by the officers over the years and have failed to gain significant mention in this report.

This report appears to read as doom and gloom leading to a reduction in some way of Coal Creek’s assets. It is hard to see how any community engagement would find a positive solution when all previous reports that have been conducted by Council have not been made available for people to view in this process.

Perhaps it is not the problem that needs addressing but those in charge of managing it-if the Council does not have the staff ability to come up with a plan as shown by the last 15 years of abject failure to act, then perhaps the community needs a CEO and staff that are able to find solutions and manage assets like Coal Creek for the community.

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Local Lemon Law update

Dec 17, 2023 Carpe Diem

Second draft at Local Laws by the Council that brought you the Lemon Laws

Council have brought the second draft of their local laws document to the December Council meeting and there have been a few notable changes made to the original draft.

Nature strips can be mowed without needing a permit

Council have removed the reference to needing a permit to destroy, damage or remove any VEGETATION so mowing the nature strip will no longer require a permit from Council.

Farmers can be fined for having weeds (new addition)

Council did add in the word noxious weeds meaning that farmers might be issued an infringement notice if someone sees a ragwort on their property and thinks the beast is unsightly.

Bike riding is again permitted

Council removed the bicycle reference to clause 23 about toys being used, placed, or left on a road or in a municipal place. So riding your bike is now allowed again on roads and in municipal places.

Can now sell from home again without needing a permit.

Council removed the clause that stated people were not allowed to sell or offer goods for sale from their private property if the property was adjacent to a road.

So garage sales, selling on ebay, selling at the local market all allowed again without a permit required.


Lemons still not able to be given away to neighbours door to door.

The rule is unchanged as follows:

Without a permit, a person must not:…… (b) distribute any products, services, handbills, flyers or other printed material, on or from any road or municipal place, or from premises to premises, or cause or authorise another person to do so.

So people are still not going to be allowed to hand out leaflets, flyers or bibles to neighbours or door to door deliveries of lemons from your abundant lemon tree.

Grass still must be 300mm but farms are exempt if the grass is for fodder.

Dilapidated buildings wording changed to dangerous buildings

34. (1) An owner or an occupier of private property which is dangerous to the extent that it threatens a person’s or an animal’s life or health, any property or the natural environment must:

This was changed from any building in a dilapidated state that might have not been a danger to anyone.

Keeping of animals

Restrictions on the keeping of animals s40 which applied to some farmland zones has been reworded so the farm zones are exempt as follows:

S40. (3) Sub-clause (1) does not apply to private property located in a Rural Conservation or Rural Living Zone (as defined in the Planning Scheme) if the private property is farm land.

Animal waste

Farmland has been generally made exempt from the animal housing restrictions around waste as follows:

The following clauses no longer apply to farm land.

(ii) all animal food for consumption kept or stored on the private property is kept or stored in a vermin and fly-proof receptacle;
(iii) animal waste is not offensive and does not cause a nuisance to any other person; and
(iv) any animal odour emanated from the private property does not interfere with the immediate amenity of the area.

Droving

Council have reworded this section or maybe it would be more correct to say they swapped clause 1 and 2 over but the effect is the same.

The original draft version said:
Livestock – grazing, droving and movement on a road or municipal place
(1) Without a permit, a person must not cause, allow or undertake the grazing or droving of livestock on a road or on or in a municipal place.
(2) Sub-clause (1) does not apply when the person complies wholly with the Manual for Traffic Control at Stock Crossings (Vic Roads, June 2015), including obtaining all necessary permissions from the relevant road authority

The latest draft version says:
Livestock – grazing, droving and movement on a road or municipal place
(1) A person who causes, allows or undertakes the grazing or droving of livestock on a road or on in a municipal place must comply wholly with the Manual for Traffic Control at Stock Crossings (VicRoads, June 2015), including obtaining all necessary permissions from the relevant road authority.
(2) A person who does not comply or is incapable of complying with sub-clause (1) must not, without a permit cause, allow or undertake the grazing or droving of livestock on a road or on or in a municipal place

It can be clearly seen that clause (1) and (2) have merely been swapped around and reworded but say exactly the same thing.

We therefore decided to look up the manual for stock crossing on Vicroads site ourselves.

On the website it says in big text the following:

This Manual is to be used by farmers, drovers and other people who have a stock crossing permit from a coordinating road authority (VicRoads or municipal Council) – or who are exempted by a local law from the need to have a permit – to have stock on roads or road reserves in Victoria.
So the manual is saying that the manual applies to people with a permit from Council so without a permit, none can comply so everyone must get a permit.

The local law draft then says:
“This clause has been reworded to make it clearer that a permit to graze or drove livestock on a road or in a municipal place is only required if a person is unable to adhere to the conditions in the Manual for Traffic Control at Stock Crossings, including necessary permissions.”

So if the farmer is merely stock crossing the road he must comply with the requirements in the manual for stock crossings BUT he will still need a permit! If he wants to take his stock down the road and into another property he owns he will also need a permit since the manual says droving must comply with Council requirements.

The manual says the following:
“All relevant local law permits must be obtained prior to droving of stock.”

Domestic Bins

The clause stating that bins could not be out for more than 1 day before or after bin collection has been removed and put in the bin.

The Council have put the whole thing out for a further one month over the Xmas/New Year period for the community to have another go. Council might be hoping people get fed up of having to do this again and again only to spot obvious issues that should never have been included in the first or in this case, the second go at drafting these laws.

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Reporting Guidelines

Apr 29, 2020 Carpe Diem

1. Truth and Accuracy

Journalists cannot always guarantee ‘truth’, but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of journalism. We should always strive for accuracy; give all the relevant facts we have and ensure that they have been checked. When we cannot corroborate information, we should say so.

2. Independence

Journalists must be independent voices; we should not act, formally or informally, on behalf of special interests whether political, corporate or cultural. We should declare to our editors – or the audience – any of our political affiliations, financial arrangements or other personal information that might constitute a conflict of interest.

3. Fairness and Impartiality

Most stories have at least two sides. While there is no obligation to present every side in every piece, stories should be balanced and add context. Objectivity is not always possible and may not always be desirable (in the face for example of brutality or inhumanity), but impartial reporting builds trust and confidence.

4. Humanity

Journalists should do no harm. What we publish or broadcast may be hurtful, but we should be aware of the impact of our words and images on the lives of others.

5. Accountability

A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable. When we commit errors, we must correct them, and our expressions of regret must be sincere not cynical. We listen to the concerns of our audience. We may not change what readers write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair.