Latest news with #planningbreach
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Shock twist as former Virgin CEO to tear down $17m mansion
In a shock twist, the outgoing CEO of Virgin Australia plans to tear down a $17m home she bought just months ago, asking council to permit two planning breaches in the aftermath. Janye Hrdlicka – who has been assisting new Virgin Australia CEO Dave Emerson transition to the top job from mid-March – spent $16.9m buying a 1970s-era home at auction in September last year, which settled four days before Christmas. But just five months on, Ms Hrdlicka is seeking Noosa Shire Council approval to not just tear it down – but put in its place a stunning luxury home across three levels one of which is a basement, with two of its design elements requiring special exemptions from council. The first is the height of her planned dream build, with the Noosa Plan 2020 stipulating it should be two storeys – something Mr Hrdlicka seeks to get around by creating a basement level 'floor level L0' to house her gym and games room, with the first and second levels containing the kitchen, living and outdoor living, terrace and swimming pool areas on the upper ground floor; with the home also having a master bedroom, and three other ensuited bedrooms. Despite that, she will still be outside the stipulated height limit which sits at 8m, while her dream home design has a 600mm encroachment to sit at 8.6m. She is hoping council planner will allow her to build part of her roof line higher than the 8m height limit, with the application claiming it was 'not obscuring views from neighbours across the street or adjoining'. The second exception being called for is to let her go outside the Noosa Plan 2020 rules concerning her steeply sloping site. The council rules state that buildings and structures are not to be constructed on land with a slope greater than 33 per cent, but her proposed design touches a slope greater than 33pc – located in the northwest corner of the design next to the pool. The site's geotechnical investigation by Techtonic submitted with the application to council said plans for the steep slope and soil type in back sections will require extra protection and drilling down 5 to 6m below the finished ground level to put in a pile wall to protect the development including the pool. With those in place, it felt the design would work well. Zac Efron's Aussie long lunch haunt is on the market The block is in one of Noosa's most expensive streets because of the 180 degree views from Noosa National Park to Settlers Cove, Noosa Sound, Noosa River, Hastings St, Noosa Main Beach, Laguna Bay, right out to Double Island Point. The move comes two years after the death of her husband Jason Gaudin and almost three years since she sold up her Melbourne home for circa $18m to focus permanently on Queensland. Buyer of $12m mansion plans to give it away Ms Hrdlicka, who has had extensive experience across Qantas, Jetstar and other businesses before joining the Brisbane-based airline company, said in March that 'it has been a career highlight and a huge privilege to lead Virgin Australia'. 'I could not be more proud of how much we have achieved together as a team. Today, Virgin Australia is the most reliable airline, the most trusted and the most loved airline in the country and is delivering exceptional returns for its shareholders.'
News.com.au
22-05-2025
- News.com.au
Couple ordered to demolish dream home
A UK couple have been ordered to demolish their £1 million ($A2 million) dream home after they were found to have made a 'flagrant breach' of the rules. Jeremy and Elaine Zielinski were given permission to build a stallion semen collection centre and laboratory. The two-storey building was set to have a reception, office, kitchenette, 'analysis and lecture' lab, processing laboratory and staff changing room on the ground floor, The Sun reports. While the first floor would be a staff living space with two bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom, and a combined living/kitchen space. But instead the pair turned the property into a three-bedroom home overlooking the countryside in Great Abingdon, Cambridgeshire. The council got wind of the unauthorised house and ordered the duo to knock it down. The Zielinskis appealed the order, arguing it was excessive and the property could simply revert to the permitted use. But a planning inspector has thrown out their appeal, saying the couple 'constructed a dwelling from the off'. The pair were criticised for their 'clear and flagrant breach of planning policy'. Despite the judgement, Mrs Zielinski, 79, told the Daily Mail she and her husband didn't know they were breaking the law. 'We want to carry on living here. It's a warm and comfortable home. I love it,' the GP's receptionist said. 'It doesn't make sense to tear it down. I don't want to go and live in a caravan. If we are chucked out, we will be having to rely on the state. 'We would not have gone on and built this and put all our money into it unless we thought it was totally legal to do it.' Her husband, 73, added: 'I have not had a decent night's sleep in years and, from the moment when we got the first visit in 2020 [from council officials], life has been shaky … 'We have lost £1 million ($A2 million) overnight as a result of this decision. If we could have a semen clinic on the site it would be worth at least £1 million.' The couple bought a house with an outbuilding set on 17 acres of land for £100,000 in 1986. Planning permission was granted in 2014 by Greater Cambridge Shared Planning to build a replacement stable block and a specialist 'stallion semen' horse laboratory, with a small upstairs flat linked to the lab use. The plans were approved on the basis that it would be for a countryside business use, with the residential flat only to be used in connection with the laboratory use. Instead, the planning inspector said it was built and used solely as a residential house from the start. He said there was no lab or business running at the site, nor any evidence to show there ever was and that he house was a full home, not just a place for a worker to stay. He also pointed out that the owner had sold their original house on the site and moved into this new home. 'Photographs provided by the appellant in February 2022 in response to the Council's Planning Contravention Notice (PCN) show a complete absence of any laboratory space or research facility and that remained the case at the time of my accompanied site visit,' Inspector Chris Preston wrote. 'The ground floor has a decidedly residential appearance, with a domestic kitchen, equipped with kitchen units, cooker, island breakfast bar, with domestic furnishings and appliances. 'A dining area is present next to the kitchen in the space which was shown to house a kitchenette/container storage and distribution on the approved plans. 'Next to that, where the plans depicted an office, is a domestic living room. 'What appears to be an office is present to the front in what was shown on the plans as a reception area. 'Throughout, the ground floor is decorated and equipped in a manner that belies a residential use. 'There is no obvious reception area that would indicate use by customers of a business. 'No laboratory has been installed, no research or stored equipment associated with the business is apparent, either on the photographs from 2022 or at the time of my visit. 'Upstairs, where the staff accommodation was intended to be, there are two bedrooms, in the locations shown on the approved plans and a living area/ lounge, equipped with a sofa and television. 'However, no kitchen appears to have been constructed on the upper floor. In other words, the living space is clearly spread over the two floors, as would be the case in a typical house.' He said the council had been told the flat would be used by an additional worker, but in fact the appellant and his wife had since sold their existing house and moved into the new property. He added: 'The overriding impression is that what has been constructed is a dwelling house, occupied by the appellant and his wife, as opposed to a stallion semen collection centre/laboratory on the ground floor with residential accommodation above which is what the approved plans depicted.' He said there was also very little evidence that the stallion semen and collection business had 'ever got off the ground to any notable degree.' He added: 'The lack of any clear record of the semen collection and analysis business, when added to the evidence that the laboratory and associated storage and analysis areas were never constructed raises serious doubts as to whether the 2014 permission was implemented. 'If the pandemic did cause issues with the business, the logical thing to do, if implementing the approved planning permission, would have been to construct the building as permitted, with accommodation at first floor level and space for the laboratories etc at ground floor level, even if that led to a delay in installation of those facilities. 'What actually appears to have happened is that the appellant constructed a dwelling from the off. 'The Inspector agreed that knocking the house down was a proportionate and necessary measure as the local planning policies had been clearly broken, and keeping the building but just stopping people from living there alone would not be enough. Cllr Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: 'We welcome the Inspector's clear decision, which supports our commitment to upholding planning policies in our Local Plan and the Neighbourhood Plan designed to protect our countryside. 'This case shows the importance of adhering to the specific uses and conditions that justify development in rural areas. 'Planning rules are there for a reason – including protecting our countryside, and this decision demonstrates that we will act when those rules are broken.' The house must be knocked down and all waste material removed by May 6 2026.
