APRIC PTY LTD PITTWATER ROAD, DEE WHY, DEVELOPMENT
Page: 1767
Mr HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [4.23 p.m.]: I am extremely concerned about a situation that has arisen at Dee Why. Like many areas of Warringah, Dee Why has been under extreme pressure to facilitate additional development. That pressure has been driven primarily by the Carr Government. The complex of units at 910 Pittwater Road, Dee Why, received development application approval from Warringah Council on Thursday 15 September 2000. Many purchasers then entered into contracts subject to the completion of the building and subject to the registration of the strata plan. As is often the case, purchasers are very much at the mercy of developers and the ultimate vendor of the properties. In this case a huge problem has arisen. It appears to be a case of a developer who is footloose and fancy free with promises, a private certifier who does not understand his private certification obligations, and a distinct shortage of men of honour in dealing with the community.
I am advised that a number of residents have suffered markedly from the activities of the developer, Apric Pty Ltd, and the private certifier, McKenzie Consulting. Mr Rex Horne facilitated the purchase by his son of a unit in this complex. After settlement, which occurred a couple of months ago, he and his son tried to park their small four-cylinder car in the car space. They found it impossible to access the car space. That caused them to take out their measuring tapes and see what they had. Despite the fact that Australian standards require a minimum car space of between 2.4 metres and 2.6 metres, they found they had a 2.25 metre-wide car space. It gets worse. They can reverse the car into the car space but cannot get out of the car because the door cannot be opened, and they cannot move the car forward into the car space.
The developer is keen to extract the maximum dollars out of the development, and after contracts were entered into the approved plans were changed by a private certifier. The current Government introduced the private certifier plan—no doubt with the right intention—but at the time the Coalition warned that there may be problems with private certification. Here is a case study of incredible problems. What has happened is not unique to Mr Horne. Other people in the complex entered into contracts to purchase units. In one case people purchased a unit with two car spaces but ended up with only one. Another family purchased a unit with two bathrooms but finished up with only one. Another family purchased a unit with a large balcony but ended up with only a half-size balcony. Warringah Council has done no wrong here: it approved a development that complied with the requirements of the State Government. The private certifier, McKenzie Group Consulting of level 6, 189 Kent Street, Sydney, gave the final certification for council on 31 March—apparently happily and wilfully taking part in changing all these things that had been promised to purchasers.
Car spaces, bathrooms and balconies were all subject to the changes shown on the map. To make matters worse, the company, Apric Pty Ltd, is now advertising additional car spaces for sale—it reduced the size of the car spaces that were purchased in order to provide additional spaces to flog. It is about extracting every last dollar from this development. This company and the private certification system have a lot to answer for. I ask the State Government to look closely at what has happened. In particular, I ask the Department of Fair Trading and the Minister for Fair Trading to see what can be done to help these families. [Time expired.]
Miss BURTON (Kogarah—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.28 p.m.]: Although Opposition members imply that councils comply completely with State Government guidelines, we all know that council codes specify the number, location and height of developments. The fact that the company was allowed to build at that location is a matter for the council and its codes. It is not as though the council was abiding by some State Government policy. However, I take on board the concerns raised by the honourable member for Wakehurst about private certification. I know that penalties apply if approved plans are changed. The honourable member has outlined a serious situation, which I will refer to the Minister for Fair Trading. We definitely need to address the sorts of practices that the honourable member for Wakehurst described.