December 2016
23rd
The excavator costs came out a little higher than expected but gravel costs were lower.Total cost for road and pad was $6075
This includes 121 tonnes (88 CM) of gravel.
This is about what I expected to pay but the road is better than expected.
I was really just expecting a three meter wide strip to be scraped and topped with gravel - Glen did a lot more than that.
Finally there is something to see for the money spent.
21st
The earth is moving. Earth works should be competed tomorrow.
I have the revised slab plans.
A laser level showed I'm about 1.5M above the '54 flood level. This is less than I though but I have a meter to spare.
Hopefully the formal survey agrees.
There will be another wait for council blessing but hopefully getting close to start on the slab.
If it starts in January I'll be happy with the progress.
10th.
The project is pretty much at a standstill at the moment.With the silly season upon us not much is going to happen till next year. AGS and my window supplier will shut down for Xmas.
The excavator needs minor repairs, then there are still a couple of excavator jobs in the queue before mine. Hopefully the earth will move this year.
We have had storms but no major wet or flooding. If the wet season fully kicks in everything could be delayed by months.
My biggest setback has been the geotech soil testing - one of the three test boreholes found sand. We are still waiting for advice from an engineer.
November 2016
21st.
It has been a few weeks of hoops,loops,roadblocks and downers.I got my first look at the detailed plans and not everything was as expected. Mainly my main roller door got moved to put in a post.
Several major problems with conditions now seem do-able. For example we (co-op) managed to connect with the 90YO former land owner to get details on the 1954 flood levels.
My conditions will probably take to rest of the year to meet but it all looks possible.
After a bit of lost sleep it should now be a matter of ticking the conditions off one by one.
The plan was to be an owner-builder but fair-trading NSW were of the opinion I wasn't eligible to apply.
Because to land is owned by a co-operative - not an individual or company we don't slot into their current system.
Because the kit builder is registered builder the project can go ahead.
If I was doing the physical build myself I'm not sure what would have happened.
4th
My DA is now shown as conditionally approved - approved 27th Oct notification send 3rd Dec.No DA in today's mail.
Later - there are 26! conditions - such is life in a Nanny state.
2nd
Still waiting for my development application but my construction certificate is shown as "determined". I don't have either in hand it must be close.It is over six months since we made the first submission and over four since they formally started the clock.
Too amuse myself I've done a sketchup fly through animation of the building/grounds.
Sept 2016
Above is a sketchup concept for my place.
The house is fairly true to the plans but the rest not so much so. The tree species I want aren't supported by the tree plugin nor are barbed wire fences and dirt roads.
If council ever gives the go ahead this is where my house is going.
The first council delay was to have a soil contamination report done. There is no reason to think the soil is contaminated.
The second was the effluent plan was rejected. The new one has 10 times the capacity I need.
It will handle 600L a day - I only use 80 while on town water and that includes a flush toilet and a spa. My usage off grid will be less.
One of the first things I did was a crude level sighting across to a house known to be above the flood level. If this sighting said I was lower it would have been the end of the idea. My estimate was that I'm a few metres higher. I was at risk in the old flood risk area but the newer flood maps came up in the clear.
If I built a six storey house instead of a barn style this is what the view south would look like.
Thanks to the same quadcopter this is the current view down on the site - still a cow paddock.
This will be the view from the back - the view from the deck will be a metre or two higher.
It should be up by Christmas - I just don't know which Christmas.
eddie
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