Owner bid to finish illegal demolition

THE remains of a heritagelisted Mt Stuart property that was partially demolished illegally earlier this year, could finally come down.

On Monday, the Hobart City Council’s city infrastructure committee will consider a request by the owner to fully demolish the 55 Mt Stuart Rd house.

In February, unauthorised works on the property disturbed asbestos in the roof.

The electricity was still connected while the 1885 weatherboard house was almost fully knocked down illegally. The demolition outraged residents and community leaders.

Darko Krajinovic — the owner of the property — has pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to illegally demolishing the house.

He pleaded guilty to one count of carrying out prescribed work when not the holder of a practitioner’s licence.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of undertaking development without a permit and one count of performing permit demolition work without a valid demolition permit.

The council brought proceedings regarding breaches of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act, the Building Act, the Building Regulations and the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act.

The court case was adjourned by Magistrate Simon Cooper until September 14 for facts and sentencing.

But work could soon begin on demolishing the rest of the house, with the committee recommended to approve the application and move it on to a meeting of the full council later this month.

Council staff have said as a condition of this, a demolition waste management plan must be submitted and approved before work on the site begins and it must be implemented throughout the demolition.

Hobart City Council gen- eral manager Nick Heath said the waste management plan would include what must be done in the event there were any hazardous materials in the remaining building.

“The demolition waste management plan is a written plan that includes provisions for the handling, transport and disposal of demolition material, including any contaminated waste and recycling opportunities,” he said.

“Clearly, if asbestos is present in the remaining building then the plan will be required to document compliance with the relevant state regulations for the safe removal and disposal of such material.”

The maximum penalty for illegal demolition work is a 10year ban on developing the property and the council has previously said it would be looking for a similar penalty.