A first-home buyer was forced to abandon plans to build a house after a costly three-year battle with council over a protected tree.
Nathan Marhaba and his partner paid $525,000 for a 405 sqm vacant block in Northgate in 2021 but have now reluctantly sold the property after deciding it was impossible to proceed under the onerous restrictions related to one hoop pine tree near the boundary.
The couple had already spent between $20-25,000 seeking approval to build a home that complied with Brisbane City Council laws regarding native vegetation.
Mr Marhaba gave up plans to build a new house. Picture: Lachie Millard
They battled with council for three years. Picture: Lachie Millard
Mr Marhaba, 31, said the ordeal left him ‘disheartened’ and stressed, as they continued to pay rent and mortgage repayments while saving for a deposit on another house.
“The rigmarole that we went through with council for three years around that tree was just a nightmare,” the HR professional said.
“We were basically told that we had to do everything we could to keep it alive.
“We had stark conversations about the housing crisis – how we don’t have enough homes, yet we have a 405 sqm block and we’re locked in a three-year battle over a tree,” he said.
“You’re never going to get your dream home with all these restrictions – what is more important, a tree that may or may not die, or allowing people to build more homes in their communities?”
The tree at the centre of the stoush. Picture: Lachie Millard
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They hired arborists and urban utility specialists to explore solutions, including avoiding the tree’s root zone and observing a 10m ‘protection zone’.
“You’re talking the entire length of the home,” Mr Marhaba said.
“So rather than being the standard box house, we would have almost had to cut the house in around the tree.”
The pair, who earn a combined household income of $250,000, eventually sold the vacant block for $550,000 after six months on the market. They purchased a new house in the same suburb for $1.22m.
PropTrack data shows the median house price in Northgate is $1.15m, up 23.3 per cent over the past 12 months.
It took six months to sell the block
The couple bought again in booming Northgate
Protected native vegetation as defined by Brisbane City Council includes: “native plant species that are unique to the region and state, such as hoop pines that were once part of rainforest communities that covered parts of Brisbane”.
Council states a property owner may need to apply for a permit to undertake works that may impact the canopy, trunk or roots of these plants.
Mr Marhaba and his partner are now happily settled in their 2005-built home, but for one detail – they can still see the hoop pine that was the source of so much anguish.
“We wanted to stay in Northgate because it is a bit of a booming area at the moment, so we ended up buying again just a street away.
“It wasn’t until we settled and went out on the patio and we were like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding – we can still see the tree’.
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