Stalemate

So early I rose, showered, shaved, child fed and watered waiting for the clock to hit 0830 to call the "Duty Planner" at Hawkesbury Council in my 2hr window of opportunity. Surprisingly I got onto someone straight away, however that's about where my luck ended.

Q- "My 149 says SOME of my land is bushfire prone and I would like to find out which part and why?"

A- "If your house isn't in the Windsor town proper your bushfire prone"

Q- "Ok so the nearest tree to my house is 160m away and between that tree and my block is bare earth"

A- "Well if your house isn't in the Windsor town proper your bushfire prone".

OK thanks for your clarification.....NOT! To their credit though they did refer me to the Rural Fire Service Website so I could complete a different Bushfire Risk Assessment which after completion gave me a "LOW" or "Not Applicable" rating.

And so I thought the water tank issue had been resolved but it's raised it head once again. It appears that my builder is sticking to their guns about me having to have a water tank added to my contract to satisfy BASIX requirements. A bit of history for those not familiar with my estate.

Vermont, located at Pitt Town is about 10 minutes out of Windsor NSW. The estate is made up of three releases (at the moment) and my release is 2B. From what I understand, releases 1 and 2 were connected to the Sydney Water sewer system and were required to have rainwater tanks to meet basix. In my release (2b) were were being connected to a positive pressure sewer system and a recycled water system. Even though all the infrastructure is in the ground and the processing plant is part way through construction, it is not complete and is expected to be completed by October 2011. For anyone in Stage 2B to finish construction and obtain a Occupation Certificate, the sewer and recycled water MUST be up and running.

Back to today, So my builder requires a water tank at a cost to me of $8500 prior to commencing construction however recycled water will be connected prior to me obtaining an Occupation Certificate thus it appears I waste $8500 for nothing! From what I understand from my adjoining neighbours, they have listed a water tank on BASIX and their plans to satisfy basix. When the recycled water is connected during the build a basix variation is done to reflect the change.

Whilst my wife and I are not poor, we certainly don't have money to throw at this build. My wife was due yesterday with our second bub and frankly we don't need the stress. I hope I'm wrong but I get the impression that our builder may have the "My way or the Highway" attitude about this water tank. I have sent emails to the Developer Johnson Property Group and the recycled water company The Water Factory and we will see what light they can shed. I must say though so far although their have been some minor issues, MDJ have been fantastic.