FAMILY ORDERED TO DEMOLISH CUBBY HOUSE OR FACE COSTS OF UP TO ONE MILLION DOLLARS

• Henry Budd From: Herald Sun December 27, 2011 

Sonja Keller and Andrew Burgmann must demolish their son's cubby house. Picture: Tracee Lea Source: Herald Sun

A FAMILY refusing to tear down a child's cubby house put up without council permission may face costs of over $1 million.

Penalties of $1.1 million - plus a further daily fine of $110,000 - await the family if it doesn't agree to the council's demand to demolish the structure.
The cubby house, which measures just 1.5m by 1.5m, was deemed a "fire risk", and the NSW council wants it removed by January 5.
Earlier this year, Sonja Keller and husband Andrew Burgmann used leftover building supplies to erect the cubby house behind their home for their son, Yaan, 9.
They received a notice just before Christmas telling them to remove the play house, which had not been given "development consent", as it posed a bushfire threat.
"Council has become aware that a cubby house has been erected within the premises adjacent to a dwelling; within a bushfire prone and environmentally sensitive area, without development consent," Wollongong Council wrote.

Ms Keller said she would try to fight the decision, but could not afford to pay the fines.
"This decision is a joke. It's ridiculous to say it's in a fire-sensitive area. The garden shed is in a fire-sensitive area. The pergola is in a fire-sensitive area. The whole house is in a fire-sensitive area," she said.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/family-ordered-to-demolish-cubby-house-or-face-costs-of-up-to-1m/story-e6frea6u-1226230880227?sv=32bc8a139827de6aafa4355865478368