Artist Hanif Wondir stood tall when he was asked for help from his neighbor. Photo: Hanif Wondir
Aussies can count themselves lucky to have understanding councils, after a man slapped with a hefty fine for a driveway brawl got his own brutal revenge.
A homeowner has been slapped with a Seaside council notice after complaints about his boat parked in his driveway – then took the matter to his neighbor for a surprise fee.
His maddened reaction struck a chord with many Aussies who face similar battles with neighbors over boats, caravans, trailers, and unregistered vehicles parked on residential lots, lawn edges, or on the street for months.
But for many, it’s also a reminder of how lenient Australian laws can be when it comes to turning public land – including lawns – and the parking lot in front of your home into your private realm.
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A mural made for his neighbor Hanif Wondir. Photo: Hanif Wondir
The boat is still tied up behind the new fence/gate on the road but you can’t miss it if you try now. Photo: Hanif Wondir
The owner of the house was forced to put up a fence and a gate to hide his boat in order to improve the “sight” of the property. But he outsmarted the council and the plaintiff by burgling neighbor and artist Hanif Wondir.
“After reluctantly building a fence and a road, he gave me a vague idea that would require my artistic skills.”
Mr Wondir painted a hyper-realistic optical illusion of a boat, driveway, and house directly onto the new fence and gate – so convincingly it looks as if the council’s order never existed.
“A painting of a boat in the driveway near the house on the fence in front of the boat in the driveway near the house,” Mr Wondir said of the artwork.
The mural fooled everyone, with one passerby admitting that “they thought it was a plastic fence you see at first.”
Even the officials are said to have seen the funny side, a council worker visited to take pictures congratulating the owner of the house.
In Australia, there is growing opposition to suburban ferries.
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The hyper realistic mural has many people doing double-takes. Photo: Hanif Wondir
The Sunshine Coast Council has been given a call to enforce existing laws to stop “illegal camping” of residents’ property on suburban roads.
There was no solution where the owners of any of these cars, boats or trailers could not park instead but a petition was presented to the table and a proposal linked to it was passed – with the CEO of the council to now decide the appropriate measures to deal with the problems raised by the residents.
At least one Aussie council, Noosa Shire, provides trailer parking for boat owners close to the water, to prevent boats from breaking into boat docks. It said “while parking a registered boat trailer on local roads is legal, long-term parking on busy roads is not recommended”.
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The humble homeowner now has a wonderful gateway that any boat owner could wish for.
Attention to detail rather than thinking that the gate is plastic to see. Photo: Hanif Wondir
In the case of Mr Wondir’s neighbour, the large trailer with the boat was not parked on the road, but parked next to his house – a long way from the Gold Coast, where the public site is full of complaints about boats.
One resident was disgusted by neighbors putting orange blocks on the road “so that their 60-year-old son can always park his boat and trailer on the road”.
He said that when the workers parked there, “he lost his house a lot because of his ‘place’ on the road being taken, and he actually waved at the worker with a bullbar in his car when the worker was crossing the road to the house being repaired. It almost turned into tight cuffs. The best thing is that it was caught on the camera of the house being repaired.”
According to Jade Boat Loans, the battle for boats parked in residential areas is getting worse all over Australia – with laws that vary greatly between councils and states – some allow indefinite “travel” on the roads (provided they are under 7.5 meters and registered), while others require them to be removed every 24 hours or banned outright from the roads.
Hanif Wondir even included his son in the painting.
In NSW they must be delivered every 28 days (registered) or 15 days (unregistered) if the trailer is parked on the road,
Victoria, ACT, Queensland and Tasmania allow unlimited parking if less than 7.5m and a one-hour registration limit if greater.
WA and SA have stricter regulations, with many councils requiring boats to be hitched to vehicles and moved every 24 hours, or not allowing residential parking at all, while in the NT regulations are set by individual councils based on Australian road laws.
They recommend that all boat owners should check with their local council about the rules governing parking their boat on the road or in their driveway.
