A regional South Australian council is urging people living in shipping container homes without development approval to be cautious of potential health and environmental hazards.
Key points:
- A regional SA council says there has been a spike in shipping container homes
- It says many have been built without development approval and have potential health risks
- The council’s development services director says the spike has occurred as regional housing issues stretch on
Wattle Range Council, in the state’s South East, issued a notice to ratepayers this week, noting an uptick in shipping container installations in the region without the required approvals.
Development services director, Emma Clay, said the council was concerned people residing in shipping container homes they built without approval were at risk of issues.
“My own concern when people are living in shipping containers, or any shed or outbuilding that hasn’t got approval, is what they’re doing for their wastewater,” Ms Clay said.
“Their sewage and their grey water from washing and the like, that can become a real environmental hazard.
“So we just want to make sure that people remain safe for themselves as well.”
The potential maximum penalty for unlawful development totals $120,000, but Ms Clay said that was a “worst case” scenario.
“If people genuinely didn’t know that they needed to get that development application, we can have people submit a retrospective development application,” she said.
“So we don’t want to scare people off … if anybody out there does have a shipping container on their block, and they haven’t got approval for it, just give us a call and we can we can help them get it all sorted out.”
Warning coincides with housing woes
Ms Clay said council had noticed the increase in shipping container homes alongside reports of lengthy construction delays and growing building material costs affecting most of the country.
She said it was understandable that people were turning to alternative housing in the interim, but that it was important they follow building codes and receive approval.
“We are hearing that across the board, you know, we’ve got people that are waiting over 12 months for their house to be built,” she said.
“It is incredible, the delays that we’re seeing at the moment.
“So … we’re not opposed to it, but we just want to make sure that they’re installed as they should be when they do get installed, and our planning officers are more than happy to provide that advice on the front end.”
She said approval is needed “generally in every case” for shipping containers, as they were effectively a building on someone’s property being used for storage or habitation.
“Don’t get me wrong — sometimes, shipping containers can be transformed into some amazing houses.
“There’s some grand things on Grand Designs and such, [but] we just need to make sure that it’s all done legitimately.”
