A house on Woodburn-Evans Head Road that flooded in February-March 2022 needs to be raised by 2.6metres and this would put it above the permitted height limit.
The raising is aimed at preventing the house flooding again.
At the Richmond Valley Council meeting yesterday, Tuesday, November 21, the development application for alterations to this flood-affected home at Woodburn was discussed briefly.
The original application to modify the house proposed a height of 10.1m. This was approved at the December council meeting.
The new application proposes to raise the house by a further 1m which will mean that the peak of the roof will be 2.6m above the maximum building height of 8.5m in this zone – and take it to 11.1m above ground level.
As the home is on a large rural lot and there will be no impacts on neighbouring properties, the height variation for this property was approved by councillors.
This decision impacts other properties where owners are wanting to raise homes above existing maximum heights so they can reduce risks in flooding such as happened in February-March last year.
Mayor Robert Mustow asked whether the council would alter its height requirements so people didn’t have to keep coming to council.
Council general manager Vaughan Macdonald said staff were waiting on the State Government’s recommendations on flooding and floor levels.
This article appeared on indyNR.com on 22 November 2023.
