Uh-oh.
Last season’s winners of The Block, Dea and Darren, have landed themselves in hot water after demolishing a heritage-protected house in Kew, an affluent suburb in Melbourne’s east.
A spokesman from the City of Boroondara Council said that immediate action was taken and an investigation launched after a bulldozer mowed through the historic early-20th-century property just weeks ago. Once learning of the investigation, the Jollys applied for retrospective approval.
The Jollys bought the house in the middle of the year, obtaining a partial demolition permit in July that required the house’s front facade and roofline to be preserved. Despite this, Fairfax Media reports that the house and its extensive gardens have been completely demolished and cleared.
According to the publication, neighbours are furious about the couple’s disregard of the heritage listing, fearing that if the heritage restrictions are ignored it could subsequently reduce the value of other houses in the street.
In a letter to Fairfax Media, Mr Jolly explained his reasons for the unapproved demolition.
“I decided to take down the remaining parts of the house because it was too unstable and unsafe to stay there. As we have seen over the last couple of days how strong the wind has been and to leave the remaining house in the condition it was would have been extremely dangerous to myself and my neighbours.”
“As the builder for this build I’m obliged to warrant this house for years to come for the lucky people who buy it from us, and after seeing how bad the condition of the house was in I wouldn’t have slept at night knowing what was left there was unsatisfactory and I couldn’t build the house structurally sound.”
The couple, who won close to $1 million in their last season of The Block, have expressed their intention to build an exact replica of the house’s original facade, and say they will be reusing the roofing tiles, bricks and windows they collected when tearing down the property.
Do you think Dea and Darren should cop a fine from the council?
Top Comments
At the end of the day it's heritage listed, they bought that house knowing thay information. Also when you buy a house you send a builder through to check it for its integrity - the builder didn't notice at the time?
Fine them, but even then it won't take back what they have done. To the peole making the claim 'it's ugly' that's not a reason...house apparance is in the eye of the beholder.
Claiming disintegration blah blah but then stating you will be resusing them same products? Yup, if everybody did whatever they wanted then afterwards seeked forgiveness our society would be take a good downhill spiral.
I think that overall it shows a true lack of respect for the fellow members of the community, the law and in general it's just disappoint.
I think what people don't realise on this forum is that there are four streets in this area that are heritage protected because of the state bank house and land scheme in the 1920s and 1930s which is why the house is not what some may consider as worthy of saving but it is for the whole area to preserve this unique development. People are upset because they bought the block cheaply because of the restrictions and then disregarded locals and the council to demolish it. I think they will build a lovely house however locals are annoyed because we have all done the right thing and gone through council and these people don't seem to care and show an arrogance beyond belief. They purchased the property half a million below what it would have cost them for a similar size in a different area of Kew East without a heritage restriction for a property in that condition. They have also got rid of all the vegetation on the site apart from one tree and the trees were close to 100 years old - that's why locals are upset and rightly so.