Blue Mountains {city} Council’s corporatised cultural cop out dismissal of default developments as being just ‘exempt sheds‘ shows frankly just how much of a bubble zone the joint is in.

One’s unnecessary property development dispute drama here with an adjoining neighbour and his invasive backyard sauna on our fence line began on Monday 8th December 2025.

This photo below is of the imposing ‘sauna shed’ part-built on our backyard fence line that suddenly confronted us as we walked out our back door to our laundry.   Construction of the new sauna had started with no notice to neighbours nor Council.    [Note: yours truly taking photo].   Notably, construction was underway leading up to the Christmas holidays when Council would be closed for some weeks – think ideal timing for the WWII Japanese invasion – authorities uncontactable, as all being on extended leave! 

 

Dec 2025:  Over our fence appears some new backyard sauna (under cowboy construction in blue) for a new Airbnb conversion, a totally illegal backyard development over the top of two sewers (note manhole on right leaning under new sauna). The build is almost on our back fence for an owner retiring and taking off overseas and to bugger the holiday let party-invite consequences set to adversely impact us as adjoining neighbours.  Council has deemed it to be a “shed” (read below response) and so auto-exempt from Council development approval.  Yeah but, this is the third “shed” on this residential property site (and that’s a breach for starters).  

 

Sounds like megalopolis over-developed Sydney spreading throughout the State of New South Wales by stealth.

Enter, Council’s Development ‘Senior Investigations Officer’ Ms Judy Le Breton that month to assess one’s concerns (NOT).

Well, a few weeks out from Christmas and governmental bureaucratic lockdown (aka ‘bugger the Japanese/these days Chinese threat’) one receives a quip rejection without explanation from Ms Le Breton thus:

 

“Dear Mr Ridd,

I have inspected the structure being built at the rear of [XXXXXX] Street, Katoomba. I am satisfied it meets the provision of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (‘Exempt SEPP’), and no action is to be taken by Council.

These codes relate to development that can be undertaken without requiring the consent of Council. I have addressed your noise concerns with the owner of [XXXXXX] Street. I am satisfied with the noise mitigation measures that will be employed, however should noise become an issue, you are able to seek a Noise Abatement Order via the Local Court.

The structure being built, whilst within a Heritage Conservation Area, is not a Heritage Item. This means that many of the Exempt SEPP development provisions (including those that apply to the structure being built at [XXXXXX] Street) can be applied without seeking the approval of Council.

Assessing compliance with state legislation is a major part of my job.  The legislation largely determines what is allowed and what is not. 

In relation to your Airbnb concerns, the Department of Fair Trading changed the rules around short term rental accommodation and it is no longer regulated by Council.

Regards,

Judy Le Breton | Senior Investigations Officer  |  BMCC …”

 

 

We note the cultural use of abbreviations and applied acronyms of invented terms by government bureaucrats.   

We refer to this as ‘Le Breton Cop Out‘, that is “nothing to see here!”

Council feedback above is that new builds in Heritage Conservation Areas are not heritage items per se.   They are what Council reckons are ‘exempt’ so nothing to see here by Council.  Property owners, developers and builders can go for their lives.  Be creative! These codes relate to development that can be undertaken without requiring the consent of Council.

As for noise from the sauna etc, should noise become an issue, you are able to seek a Noise Abatement Order via the Local Court.  So cop out #2 – adversely impacted neighbours have to go to court and get a solicitor.   Council: “Nothing for us to see here!”

As for the Airbnb invasion pandemic – Council: “Nothing for us to see here! Don’t ring Council, instead ring the Department of Fair Trading since the New South Wales (NSW) Government changed the rules around short term rental accommodation and it is no longer regulated by Council.”

What does NSW Fair Trading friggen know about Airbnb and holiday lets?  Nothing.  We checked their website, which is dodgy because it no longer uses the title Department of Fair Trading.  It reads as follows:

“The enforcement of planning laws (fire safety (including overcrowding), planning approvals, parking or ongoing noise) remains with local council, and criminal laws (urgent noise issues) remain with police.  The code of conduct does not change the existing complaint handling processes of local council and police.” 

Source: ^https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/short-term-rental-accommodation)

 

So, the only thing the NSW Government’s Department of Fair Trading deals with in respect to Airbnb’s is not regulation, but just handing complaints about them; otherwise the NSW Government is allowing property owners run a holiday let in a free-for-all globalist unregulated landscape.  It’s a repeat cop out of government regulatory accountability like San Francisco based Uber being carte blanche government invited to undermine/bankrupt Australian taxi licenses in a free-for-all.  Council and Fair Trading:  “Airbnb?  Again , nothing to see here!” 

This is undemocratic legislation by the NSW Government.  Perhaps NSW Parliament House in Macquarie Street Sydney and in the Chifley Tower, where the NSW Government bureaucrats indulge on high; could sublet their offices to Airbnb as well, and work from home?  Rules for some?

In the state of New South Wales, land use planning standards and laws have become so lax over recent years, that property owners and developers can more or less get away with murder.  Consider the flammable illegal cladding of high-rise apartments in Mascot (inner Sydney) for starters!  

 

Short answer? Nuh!  They’re all exempt.  Council’s “nothing to see here!” cop out.  Why have a Council – they don’t even collect rubbish – it’s outsourced to private contractor J.J. Richards.  Road building and repairs (like potholes) is also outsourced by Council.

 

Almost any development now is deemed ‘exempt’, as in – just go for it!  Nothing to see here!   Government has reckoned well it just can’t be arsed getting involved in anything less than what it considers to be ‘State Significant Development’ and of course it’s given such an acronym: ‘SSD’.   Of course it has.  Governments just have to have an acronym for everything government.  It’s so only them know what they are talking about.

Let’s explain the policy.  It’s termed ‘exempt development’ (State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes 2008) (bureaucratic acronym ‘SEPP’) –  aka ‘nothing to see here!’ 

Love the spelling, vegoes!

 

Garden Sheds?

Well, you can construct a ‘small’ garden shed on your property without council approval, provided it meets the (NSW) SEPP guidelines (Council interpretation permitted).

In theory, (on paper at least ) it must:

• Be no larger than 20 square metres.
• Have a height of no more than 3 metres (above ground level at least).
• Be located at least 900 mm from any boundary.
• This allows homeowners to add practical storage solutions without lengthy approval processes.

 

Yeah but, Council will ignore such conditions anyway, as Ms Le Breton just has in our case.   So (to quote) “You do  not need planning or building approval if your proposal complies with the exempt development standards“.   No of course in lay terms ‘Environmental’ and ‘Planning’ together are an oxymoron. 

‘Exempt‘ translates to ‘Council couldn’t give a crap’.

 

So, in the case of wanting to build a ‘shed’ on your property, in practicality (as in our case) the NSW Government’s standards don’t exist nor the rules likewise.   Your new ‘shed’ could be anything you wish it to be, so long as you refer to it as ‘shed‘ mind you.   This relates to other  terms like ‘cabanas’, ‘cubby houses’, ‘ferneries’, ‘garden sheds’, ‘gazebos’, ‘greenhouses’, etc.  See attached formal rules of the NSW Government.

And so local Council considers all this to be a total cop out for them – in your backyard there’s is nothing for us to see here!

 

Council will of course accept donations to get any ‘shed’ approved real fast!

 

So, what is a bloody ‘shed’ then anyway?    Well, the Oxford Dictionary traditionally defines a “shed” primarily as “a small, simple building for storage (like a garden shed) or a larger industrial structure (like a railway shed); as a verb, it means to lose or cast off naturally (skin, hair, leaves), to get rid of something unwanted (jobs, clothes), or to let something fall or flow (tears, blood, light).”

Yeah but wait, there’s more…

As a Noun (a shed is…):

• • “A small building: A simple structure, often wooden, for storing tools, bikes, or garden items (e.g., “bicycle shed,” “tool shed”).
    A large building: A big, basic structure for industrial or transport purposes, like an engine shed or a factory shed.
    (Australasian English): An open-sided building for shearing sheep or milking cows.  (Now you’re talking!)
  • As a Verb (transitive):
    To lose naturally: For animals (hair, skin) or plants (leaves).
    To get rid of: To discard something no longer needed, like jobs or excess weight.
    To release/flow: To let light, tears, or blood flow or spill out (e.g., “shed light on the subject,” “shed tears”).

Examples:

“The snake shed its skin.” (verb: lose naturally)
“They keep the lawnmower in the garden shed.” (noun: building)
“The company (Council) decided to shed some staff.” (verb: get rid of)”

 

So a ‘shed’ is rather open to various interpretations.   Council is well aware.  If it is subject to Le Breton Cop Out interpretation, then it can be more than ‘one step beyond‘ the traditional concept for sure.  The Le Breton Cop Out interpretation:

 

“Push yourself harder, to go beyond what is expected, dudes!!” 

 

We posit some creative options:

 

(1)   A wee ‘exempt’ shed

 

 

(2)   An ‘exempt’ shed, despite subsequent uses…

 

 

(3)   An ‘exempt’ larger shed  

 

 

(4)   An ‘exempt’ party cabana

 

 

(5)   An ‘exempt’ backyard sauna

 

 

(6)   ‘Exempt’ (habitable?) sheds, mmm

 

 

Now, this example at 39 Warialda Street, Katoomba, NSW above for decades had a proper house on the residential site on a land plot size of 1,402 m².   The house contained 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 parking space and a big Aussie backyard.  It was pretty much typical traditional Katoomba residential, just like the photo below shows the red tiled houses on the right-hand side. 

However, in 2015 it sold for $408,000 to a property developer.   Then Blue Mountains {city} Council approved the house’s demolition and with no regards for amenity approved six ‘swing-a-rat’ ‘studio’ townhouses be built  on  the same site.  Check out the aerial photo below (the grey ColourBond rooves on the left).   

According to RealEstate.com, in 2026 median property price in Katoomba over the last year for units is $585,000.  So this developer/owner of at 39 Warialda Street is currently sitting on $3.5 million ($585,000 x 6) of real estate, thanks to Council.   Is he/she known to Council perhaps, or even on Council, perhaps?  We term it ‘Mountains Money Grab‘ and it comes with ‘bugger the village amenity’ greedy {city} attitude.

 

 

(7)   ‘Exempt’ shipping container habitable ‘shed’ living

 

Not exactly Blue Mountains lifestyle living, nor in any definition compliant with respecting Mountains amenity.  Yet, Council let this shipping container inspired monstrosity on what was rural  bushland become ’43 Loftus Street’ in Katoomba an go through its planning approval. 

 

 

This lot had been a remnant of original bushland within The Gully Catchment above Katoomba Falls – and supposedly a heritage a naturally protected area.   But Council over decades had allowed it to be destroyed by ‘a thousand cuts’ over time by land use development down to a narrow pointy verge-type plot intersecting Neale Street and Loftus Street in Katoomba.  Worse, was that a huge healthy mature rare Eucalyptus oreades gum tree (dating probably over  300 years old – a measured girth of 5 metres DBH*) was killed in order to make way for this shitty shipping container build.  Then just five years later , the owner sold up and went elsewhere – typical ‘robber-baron’ style anthropocentric personal greed and abuse of native habitat.

 

 

* [NOTE:  Scientifically, the standard height for measuring tree girth (circumference) is commonly referred to as Diameter at Breast Height (DBH).  This measurement is taken at a consistent height above the ground to ensure comparable and repeatable data.]

And if you reckon that this ‘shipping container’ inspired build is a shocker, then consider the recent introduction of ‘pod’ accommodation in the {city} of Sydney.

 

 

(8)   An ‘exempt’ Lithgow Prison style toilet block

 

 

(9)   Council’s Civic Depression Centre in Katoomba – yep, ‘exempt’

 

 

(10)   Katoomba Falls Kiosk Shed ‘revitalisation’ – ‘exempt’

 

 

(11)   Another Council ‘exempt’ million-dollar toilet block

 

 

(12)   Council’s aquatic shed – ‘self-exempted’  

 

 

(13)   Skyway money invasion – ‘exempted’

 

 

(14)   Council chambers – monolithic isolate – ‘self-exempted’

 

 

(15)   Barangaroo twister?

 

 

(16)  Another conceivable ‘exempt’ example under this ‘cop out’ unaccountability regime

 

 

We’ve since learned that local Blue Mountains (City) Council have a development compliance ‘team’ so supposedly ensure that property developments meet the rules of where they are situated – like in a residential area, bushfire zone, on a steep slope, next to or within native habitat, or just bulldozed and rebuild! 

Sydney attitude, Sydney mandate – state-wide!   So, Council’s message to would-be cowboy developers is clear:

 

Council:  “So hey developers, go for it!   No rules, just do what ya want!   Nothing to see here by Council!”

 

 

…Alice’s second adventure takes her through the looking-glass to a place even curiouser than Wonderland.  She finds herself caught up in the great looking-glass chess game and sets off to become a queen.  It isn’t as easy as she expects: at every step she is hindered by nonsense characters who crop up and insist on reciting poems. Some of these poems, such as ‘The Walrus and The Carpenter’ and ‘Jabberwocky’, are as famous as the Alice stories themselves. 

As for Judy Le Breton, she’s has taken the definition of a ‘shed’ “one step beyond…”

 

 

 

Lynda loved Nature

Lynda Jacqueline lived by herself

In a small flat with a small garden bed

No electricity

Lynda was never poor wearing her straw trilby

Lynda’s tradition was young, young gorgeous young men

Who would steal a kiss

Lynda took life’s chances

Lynda would smile a sad smile

Lynda planted a sampling in her garden bed

Her peace with Nature

But Housing Commission killed it

Lynda was saddened

Lynda tried for wonderful tomorrows

This winter Lynda took a cold bath and never woke up.

 

 

This is a dedication to Lynda Jacqueline of Katoomba who passed away Friday 18th August 2017, aged 50.

A brief insight into ‘The Friends of Katoomba Falls Creek Valley Inc.’ and their efforts to protect a special place.

“Gain a short, little known insight into a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who came together led by the late Neil Stuart to become guardians of a very special natural valley in the Upper Blue Mountains.  Learn about the wealth of stories, how over 26 years locals cared for the valley’s integrity, how volunteers committed to half a lifetime of unpaid bushcare, made and sold jam at street stalls to raise funds, and fought a council Goliath.  Be shocked by the truth of what really happened in 1957 and the lifetime trauma to what was once an harmonious yet socially marginalised community subsisting on Katoomba’s fringe.

This is of living contemporary social history.  This is a controversial expose into one group’s community volunteerism, activism, environmentalism and nimbyism and social justice – thousands of hours given up to save ‘Katoomba Falls Creek Valley’, known by some as ‘The Gully’, known by others as ‘Catalina Raceway’.

This is very much an Australian story, a microcosm of Australian history and pre-history – one locally as rich as it is beautiful yet very sad.  It has impacted upon dozens of locals, old families and their ancestors. It is a story about respecting the natural, anthropological and community values of one valley.  Recent history became complex, protracted and nasty – involving displacement, forced eviction, invasion, desecration, secret deals, politics, animosities, divide-and-conquer manipulation, empty political promises, conflicting interests, threats and designs by influential millions, the various meetings, many plans of development (some silly), token consultation, one of metaphorically trying to herd cats and twenty six years of community emotional snakes and ladders.

Katoomba Falls

This presentation was delivered by a former member of ‘The Friends’ yesterday at Hobby Reach, Wentworth Falls, the home of the Blue Mountains Historical Society Inc.

For those who attended and requested the reading of the poem…

Soliloquy of a Scribbly Gum

Thomson River from Walhalla Road Bridge, Victoria, Australia.

(Photo by editor 20170322 looking north)

.

Walhalla Mizzle

.

It’s been raining gentle all night

In crisp mountain air

I sit on my dawn porch

I gaze through the grey mizzle

To the thick treed ridge

Covering the steep spur

.

Across Stringers Creek

The creek babbles far below

Feeding the mighty Thomson

Low heavy cloud envelops

Robins, larks, parrots, finches, firetails, martins or currawongs

Greet the daylight

.

Walhalla’s quiet now

As it should be up here

In the wild ranges steep

The 50 year army of gold reefers

Has long been and gone

Shafters taken their bargains and fortunes

Till the ground lay barren, the hills denuded, the Thomson damned

The batteries, the boilers and engines and waterwheel are gone

The miners, drinkers, shop keepers, the shafted

The school kids who played in bad soil

.

The long tunnels lie empty and dank

The dark shafts abandoned to victim ghosts

The slag heap lies as a mountainous waste

Still laced with arsenic

Stringers choked by discarded tailings

They all went back up over Little Joe, the twenty-five hundred

Back to their big smoke

.

The rail remains as industrious memory

To the heyday of industry and hardship

Fifteen tons of gold taken

On the marble column count

Dividends paid out

Two fires, a flood, disease and arsenic

Dozens perished for the gold fever

As the slain to Odin

.

The mizzle is pure till it touches the ground

Surrounding forest seems back

The creek tries flow as it did, crystal but dead

A heritage cancer cluster

A new breed of shafters.

.

Stringers Creek, from Main Road, Walhalla

(Photo by editor 20170322)

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Further Reading:

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[1]    “Elevated arsenic values can be detected up to 15 metres from the mineralised zone” –  in ‘Nature of gold mineralisation in the Walhalla Goldfield, eastern Victoria, Australia‘, 2007, by Megan A. Hough, Laurent Ailleres (School of Geosciences, Monash University), Frank P. Bierlein (Centre for Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia, Adele Seymon (Geoscience Victoria) and Stuart Hutchin (Goldstar Resources, Rawson),
^https://www.smedg.org.au/HoughOct07.html

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[2]    ‘Approaching a century-old legacy of arsenic and mercury contamination’, 2016, by Dr. Linda Campbell, Senior Research Fellow at Environmental Science, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, ^http://ap.smu.ca/~lcampbel/Gold.html

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[3]   ‘Soil arsenic from mining waste poses long-term health threats’, 20120322 by Dora Pearce, Research Fellow at Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, published in The Conversation, ^http://theconversation.com/soil-arsenic-from-mining-waste-poses-long-term-health-threats-5901

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[4]   ‘What are the effects of arsenic on human health?’, ^http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arsenic/l-2/arsenic-7.htm

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[5]   ‘Is there a cancer cluster in a CQ mining town?’ , 20141113, by Rachael Conaghan (Dysart in Central Queensland), ^https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/is-there-a-cancer-cluster-in-a-cq-mining-town-conc/2452092/

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[6]   ‘Walhalla, Dec-Jan 2012-13‘,  20130303,  ^https://daynaa2000.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/walhalla-dec-jan-2012-13/

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[7]   ‘Chronic arsenic poisoning‘, 2005, by Vanessa Ngan, Staff Writer, DermNet New Zealand – a world renowned resource all about the skin, ^http://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/chronic-arsenic-poisoning/

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[8]  ‘Thallium and Arsenic Poisoning in a Small Midwestern Town’, 2002,  by Daniel E Rusyniak at Department of Emergency Medicine and Division of Medical Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA, and R. Brent Furbee and Mark A Kirk, ^https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/articles/11867986/

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[9]    ‘Cancer incidence and soil arsenic exposure in a historical gold mining area in Victoria, Australia: A geospatial analysis‘, 2012, by Dora Claire (University of Ballarat and Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne), Kim Dowling (Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne) and Malcolm Ross Sim (Monash University) in Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2012) 22, 248–257,  ^http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v22/n3/full/jes201215a.html

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[10]    ‘A cross-sectional survey on knowledge and perceptions of health risks associated with arsenic and mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining in Tanzania’, 20130125, by Elias Charles, Deborah SK Thomas, Deborah Dewey, Mark Davey, Sospatro E Ngallaba and Eveline Konje, at BMC Public Health, BioMed Central, London UK, ^https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-74

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[11]   ‘Arsenic mine tailings and health’, 2015, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria State Government, ^https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/arsenic-mine-tailings-and-health

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