A couple say they can no longer build their dream home after a neighbour built their own house just 40cm away.
Kathy Morin and Devon Matsalla are currently building themselves a new home on the waterfront on Coomera Waters on Queensland's Gold Coast.
But construction efforts have come to a grinding halt over a teeny gap between their new build and the upper floor of the neighbouring property owned by Greg Yong, who says his property had been given the thumbs up by the local council. You can see the tiny gap for yourself in the video below:
Builders have said they can’t safely erect scaffolding in such a small space, meaning that Morin and Matsalla have no clue when - or if - their home will be finished.
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Speaking on A Current Affair, Matsalla said: “It's a dream we have been planning for years now, we are so close. But then this issue raises its ugly head in our path.”
Morin added: "If it was [just the matter of] a couple of centimetres we wouldn’t be having this conversation but it’s preventing us from building our house, like that’s big, it’s not aesthetics.
"We’ve put in all our money we’ve put in all the time, we’ve been waiting a long time."
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The couple have since filed a complaint with Gold Coast City Council, which has launched an investigation.
A development application, approved by Gold Coast City Council, shows that the upper floors should be set back at least 2.5 metres from neighbouring properties, unless otherwise approved by the council.
But the design of Yong’s property means it is just 40cm away from the one being built by Morin and Matsalla.
Morin told the news outlet: "Somehow it got approved through the chain.
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"I don’t know how it got approved, our builder has no idea, how it got approved."
However, Yong says it was properly approved.
He told the programme: "We wouldn’t have been able to build it if it wasn’t certified."
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The day after the three neighbours sat down to try and solve the issue, the company that had built Yong’s property submitted a ‘minor change application' to the council.
Yong has since offered to temporarily remove wooden battens so that scaffolders can be built around the upper floor of the site.
He told A Current Affair: "Our builder spoke to their builder three weeks ago and said we're happy to organise this so you can get up there.”
A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson told the news outlet that it is currently investigating the complaint and has given Yong until the end of the month to respond.
Claire Reid