A bizarre neighbour dispute about a shiny roof has cost a homeowner $40,000 and possibly facing a criminal conviction.
Kelly Hunter and her husband, Troy, built their house on the Gold Coast and have been battling their neighbours and the council for three years.
The parties have now reached an out of court settlement preventing a potential court case.
Kelly Hunter and her husband, Troy, built their house on the Gold Coast and have been involved in a three-year battle
Their retired next door neighbours, Heather and John Day, complained to the council after months of negotiations.
The couple were unhappy over the way sunlight would bounce off the roof and cause glare into their home.
But Mrs Hunter told A Current Affair she had run out of ideas of ways to try to cure the problem, despite the work being carried out under plans approved by Gold Coast City Council.
Mr and Mrs Day compared the light bouncing off the roof to ‘a mirror shining in our house’ which was unbearable between April and October, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.
‘It’s like a mirror.’ Neighbours describe how the roof appears when sunlight bounces off it
But while Mrs Hunter claimed she had sympathy for the issue, she felt the issue had been dragged out and that her neighbours were being unreasonable.
Mrs Hunter said: ‘I’m really upset by it, it’s been horrible. Emotionally it’s been totally draining.
‘I don’t want the sunlight shining into their house and to be upset. There was nothing we could do.
‘I asked for time for it to fade. The technical advice is you need to let it fade and get dirty.’
Mrs Hunter said they had repainted the roof twice in a bid to keep it from it being too bright
Letters written to the Hunters from the council appear to show the council reminding them it was their responsibility to resolve it.
But it later ruled not enough had been done and fined the Hunters $1,800.
Throughout the three-year saga, Mrs Hunter claims they have tried everything possible including installing a bamboo screen, repainting the roof twice in different colours and offering to buy blinds for their neighbours.
Through legal fees and mitigation efforts, Mrs Hunter estimates they have spent in the ‘late 30s’.
The final effort was to force a decision through the courts but they were put off when their lawyer advised them they could be liable for an environmental nuisance charge.