A FUMING couple claim they’ve had to stop constructing their dream home after the council let their neighbour build a mansion just 40cm away.
Kathy Morin and Devon Matsalla are assembling a house in Queensland, Australia, but say builders can no longer put up scaffolding to complete it.
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The pair say the entire project has ground to a halt – leaving them “heartbroken” as they pumped all their money into the build.
Ms Morin told A Current Affair: “If it was a couple of centimetres we wouldn’t be having this conversation but it’s preventing us from building our house, like that’s big, it’s not aesthetics.
“We’ve put in all our money we’ve put in all the time, we’ve been waiting a long time.”
Mr Matsalla says they have filed a complaint with Gold Coast City Council as they fail to understand why permission was granted for another home to be built within touching distance.
He said: “Somehow it got approved through the chain.
“I don’t know how it got approved, our builder has no idea, how it got approved.”
But Greg Yong, CEO of Dreamworld which owns the other build, claims his house has been approved.
He told the programme: “We wouldn’t have been able to build it if it wasn’t certified.”
Mr Yong held a meeting with the couple to talk out concerns.
After the discussion, it is understood Dreamworld filed a document claiming the extension “will not undermine the amenity of the adjoining property”.
Mr Matsella said: “If they maybe wanted a bigger home then they need a bigger lot.”
A spokesman for Gold Coast City Council told news.com.au that the authority “is investigating this complaint”.
The council declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, a mum who watched her neighbours build a home close to her own was left furious when the council wouldn’t do anything about it.
Niki Caira was horrified when she realised how close luxury homes were going to be to her house in Thorton, Fife, and immediately contacted her local authority to complain – but got nowhere.
Niki and husband Mario objected to the planning application for the two £350,000 properties in 2020, however, they were given the go-ahead by Fife Council in June 2021.
When building work started next door to her Scotland home in May, the mum-of-seven said she felt like her family’s privacy had been invaded.
