Height of anger in wall dispute

THE legal battle between a Bayview Heights resident and the Cairns Regional Council over a retaining wall has taken another turn.

Reef tour operator John Heuvel has been locked in a stoush over the site for almost a year after council originally deemed the wall erected at his luxurious, elevated Falcon St property a landslip risk.

The case ended up before the Planning and Environment Court with Mr Heuvel accusing council of “heavyhanded tactics” to stop the construction early in the year.

The wall is being built by former leading property developer Roy Lavis, who previously headed the collapsed CEC Group.

In fresh documents filed in court just before Christmas, Mr Heuvel and joint tenant Lyndell Ross are now disputing conditions imposed by council on the wall, including a height limit and distance from boundaries.

Among the reasons for the conditions are concerns over mitigating risk to people and property with bushfires.

The pair say the 2m height limit should be increased to 3m and the minimum setback distances from boundaries imposed was “unreasonable”.

The council originally accused Mr Heuvel of ignoring three stop-work orders on the structure, which runs onto land owned by council on the adjoining block. Mr Heuvel spoke outside court in March, saying council had bought in police to stop the construction, in one instance watching them climb the fence to get inside his property while he was hosting an LNP party fundraising function.

Council’s court documents state the stop-work notice was ignored earlier this year and, when officers attended the site two weeks after issuing one notice, council staff found Mr Lavis operating an excavator and Mr Heuvel refusing to give his name.

“Mr Heuvel would not identify himself and began stating to police that his official name was ‘Captain’,” the council officer’s affidavit said.

A letter from Mr Lavis said Cairns Mayor Bob Manning stepped in and contacted him in March with work ceasing after that.

Remediation works also had to be completed in March after initial concerns that Cyclone Debbie might have affected the area.

MR HEUVEL WOULD NOT IDENTIFY HIMSELF AND BEGAN STATING TO POLICE THAT HIS OFFICIAL NAME WAS ‘CAPTAIN’

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