Monash Council Wins Demolition Order
Monash Bulletin - Christmas 2006
Monash Council Wins Demolition Order On Illegal Student Accommodation
A Court has ordered a Chadstone property owner to demolish an illegal structure being used in part as student accommodation that Monash Council found to be unhealthy and a potential firetrap.
The illegal structure was tacked on to an approved plan for construction of a two-room bungalow at the rear of a house at Bullarto Street, Chadstone. It added a kitchen and laundry as part of an illegal conversion into a three-bedroom dwelling.
The structure was discovered when a complaint to the State Health Department was referred on to Monash Council's Building Department. A visit to the site by Council officers confirmed the structure was in breach of the Building Act.
Monash Council's Deputy Building Surveyor, Steven Baxas, said Council received many complaints - one or two a week - about such structures but this was a particularly flagrant example.
"The structure had no weatherproofing, no fireproofing, no smoke alarms, incorrect ceiling height, the kitchen was near the toilet and the cistern connected to the stormwater drain," he said. "There were so many potential ignition sources."
Mr Baxas said that with two major tertiary institutions - Monash University and Holmesglen TAFE - located within the City, student accommodation was at a premium and this was encouraging people to cut corners.
"It is remarkably easy and inexpensive to make this sort of accommodation safe and compliant from the beginning. Anyone who has concerns about accommodation, including those students living in it, should contact Council immediately."
Then Monash Mayor Joy Banerji said situations such this were a disaster waiting to happen.
"People's lives are being put at risk. You only have to look at the outcomes of the Childers Backpackers and Kew Cottages fires to see what can happen when proper fire safety systems are not in place," she said.
Published: 13 December 2006
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