{"id":109856,"date":"2015-06-05T03:06:10","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T17:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=109856"},"modified":"2020-11-12T14:52:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T04:52:09","slug":"family-stunned-by-64000-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/06\/05\/family-stunned-by-64000-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Stunned By $64,000 Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Skye Roberts with the play fort that her husband Daniel built for their son Jake … it crosses over the boundary between one of the front and rear blocks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 5, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve all had troublesome neighbours, but Skye Roberts’ “bad neighbours” at Memerambi could end up costing her and her family $64,000.<\/p>\n

Skye, her husband Daniel and son Jake, 3, live in King Street, Memerambi. Their “neighbours” over the back fence are the vacant and half-finished houses of the Memerambi Estate.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the family, also immediately over their back fence is “Prince Street”, one of the many gazetted but unformed roads in the historical sub-division that hadn’t been built when the original developer went broke.<\/p>\n

At the moment Prince Street looks nothing like a road … it is merely overgrown grass, a fire hazard and a possible home for snakes.<\/p>\n

However, after Wednesday’s meeting of the South Burnett Regional Council voted 4-3 to make the Memerambi Estate a “benefitted area”, and charge the owners of the blocks for the infrastructure development necessary to make the area habitable, the Roberts family suddenly look like they owe Council $64,000.<\/p>\n

Skye told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> on Thursday that she and her husband bought their property in 2006.<\/p>\n

At the time they were looking for a semi-rural block of at least an acre not too far out of Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

When they spotted the house in King Street, Memerambi, it was perfect. The large garden was a bit overgrown, but there were well-established trees, a bore and windmill in the backyard, a three-bedroom house and plenty of room. There was also farmland surrounding them on two sides.<\/p>\n

Skye said they weren’t aware the farmland was actually an historical sub-division until houses suddenly started appearing on the land.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And they had not realised that their property – which consisted of four quarter acre blocks and a house built sometime in the 1970s – was also technically a part of this sub-division.<\/p>\n

When the Memerambi development failed, leaving the owners and Council with a big headache, the Roberts family were as annoyed as most other South Burnett residents about the eyesore over their back fence.<\/p>\n

However, it wasn’t until they received a short letter in the mail from Council recently that they realised they had been caught up in the mess – and Council’s “benefitted area” solution.<\/p>\n

The back two blocks of their property face the unformed Prince Street. And, according to the “benefitted area” expert hired by Council, these two blocks cannot be excluded from the rest of the Estate, because technically each could one day be sold and have a home built on it.<\/p>\n

The “benefit”\u00a0 for each block in the Estate has been assessed as $32,000 plus interest. It would be paid off over a set period (possibly 10 years) by having an amount added to each quarter’s rates bill.<\/p>\n

As the Roberts’ family have two blocks facing Prince Street, their bill would be $64,000.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skye’s neighbours have a double block, with one block backing onto Prince Street – so their bill would be $32,000.<\/p>\n

The Roberts family’s rates are now $307.34 (with the discount) per quarter. They receive one rates notice for their four blocks, one land valuation notice and are charged one road levy.<\/p>\n

Skye said the benefitted area charge could triple their quarterly rates to more than $1000.<\/p>\n

“We just don’t have the money to spare,” Skye said.<\/p>\n

“It has never before been treated as having four separate blocks. Why is it being treated this way now?”<\/p>\n

Skye said she was frustrated that the external expert on benefitted areas brought in by Council had not approached her family – and the next-door neighbours – to discuss their situation before making his recommendations to Council.<\/p>\n

She was also frustrated that emails that she had sent to Council CEO Gary Wall and Mayor Wayne Kratzmann before Wednesday’s meeting had not been answered.<\/p>\n

However, Cr Ros Heit had replied – which she appreciated – even though she had eventually voted for the benefitted area.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s meeting, three Councillors voted against the proposal – Crs Damien Tessmann, Kathy Duff and Barry Green – at least partially because of the impact on the Roberts family and their neighbours.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skye attended the Council meeting, and became frustrated when she heard Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell urge his fellow councillors to take “emotion” out of the debate.<\/p>\n

“They are talking about my home!” she said. “Put yourselves in our shoes. Would you like it if your son got this bill?” she said.<\/p>\n

She was also annoyed that some Council staff members in the Chambers seemed to be enjoying the lively debate between councillors as if it was a sporting match rather than a life-changing decision for her family.<\/p>\n

If the Roberts family moves to amalgamate their four blocks into one, it could halve their liability to Council … but they would still owe $32,000, which Skye says is still not fair.<\/p>\n

“Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s fair. Council have just created two more victims while trying to assist these people (the Estate owners),” she said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said she was “ever so grateful” to Crs Tessmann, Duff and Green for “just recognising” her family’s predicament.<\/p>\n

“This is my home and my backyard that I love,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Every inch of this acre is my home. I would be devastated if I lost any bit of it. I wouldn’t want to live here.”<\/p>\n

Skye said she understood Council had to do something to fix the Estate, and she appreciated the arguments that had been put forward.<\/p>\n

“But we have no option now but to fight.”
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\nFootnote: Skye’s troubles don’t just end here. She works at the Collins Booksellers shop in Kingaroy Shoppingworld which is closing at the end of June.<\/em><\/p>\n

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“Prince Street” and the vacant Memerambi houses … the cause of the Roberts’ families woes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Skye at the front of her well-established home … nothing like the Memerambi Estate eyesore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The family’s backyard is a paradise for their three-year-old Jake, with swings, a play fort, trampoline and plenty of room to play … the family also has an aviary, a chook pen, windmill and bore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Roberts family refinanced their mortgage to build this shed which is on one of the blocks that it has been suggested they could one day sell and gain a “benefit” from the Prince Street infrastructure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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