As I have mentioned previously, we have had an Engineer come out and assess our needs for our retaining walls so he could draw up some plans for us to submit to Council. He has been fantastic and I feel like we are FINALLY starting to get somewhere with it after much frustration. It cost $1210 just for his services (which includes a couple of sites visits whilst the wall is being built) but unfortunately because the height our retaining walls need to be they have to be engineer designed, so no choice but to pay the money.
So we received the drawings from him the other day and I have just submitted our DA to Council. No idea how fast or slow Wollongong Council are but I hope they are fast! We would really like to make a start on these damn walls! Especially because the stage behind us has now registered, we were relying on the block behind us for access for our excavator and retaining blocks to be delivered. So fingers crossed we get in before they start building. Come on Wollongong Council!
Watch this space...
Ahh the fun! Good luck Nat - Hope they are approved for you soon! Did you have to submit an entirely new DA or just modify your existing DA? Are you allowed in to make a start before handover?
ReplyDeleteOur retaining wall saga is ongoing. I had to have an engineer come so he can design the footings due to the placement of the storm water and sewer pipes down the side of the house by MJH.. Our cost, just for the footings, has gone from about $2k to around $12k so far... eeek
Hi Brad! I did see your post about your retaining wall issues - I went to leave a big comment and it wouldn't post GRRRRRR!! That really sucks though, $10K is a massive difference in price, especially if it escalates even more. I ended up submitting a fresh DA from scratch as our house plans didn't have retaining walls included on them. Yeah we should be good to start before handover however I think our council takes about 2 months! By which time we'll be in the house anyway. We are going to get started ASAP on excavating and levelling out the back yard though whilst we have access, just waiting to hear back from our excavator. Ahhhhh the joys! Looks like it'll be a long road for the both of us! Keep me posted :)
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