A council has threatened residents of a luxury Sydney suburb with heavy fines if they do not remove potted plants from outside their homes.
Pen sellers at Woollahra Town Council have cracked down on small businesses and wealthy residents living on Underwood Street in Paddington, Sydney’s inner city, after a complaint was made about plants and furniture in the luxury street
Nicola Harvey-Hall, who has lived in her terrace house for 15 years, was fined $635 for the offense of keeping potted plants outside her door.
“I really took it as a joke,” Nicola Harvey-Hall said. news.com.au.
“I have never been fined in my life. I do not drive. The plants were beautiful. Everyone loved them.’
But now they are threatening to send bailiffs to confiscate her worldly possessions and sell them or deduct the money owed from her bank account.
Pen sellers at Woollahra Town Council have cracked down on small businesses and wealthy residents living on Underwood Street in Paddington, Sydney’s inner city, after a complaint was made about plants and furniture in the elegant street (pictured: the Tuckerbox cafe which was fined about $1,500 for having painted boxes for customers to sit in)
Meanwhile, a local cafe has been hit with two fines, amounting to approximately $1,500, for placing boxes on the street for customers to sit at.
James Martin, who runs the Tuckerbox cafe, said the fines were “ridiculous” and called on the council to “relax”.
“At the end of the day, all we’re trying to create is a place for people to sit and enjoy a coffee,” he said.
A Woollahra Council spokesperson said it was an offense to place anything on a road or footpath that obstructs people’s passage, punishable by a $635 fine.
More than a dozen letters were also sent to people whose homes back onto an alley between Underwood Street and Dudley Street, ordering them to remove a community garden (pictured).
They added that a complaint was filed in December “relating to potted plants and furniture placed on sidewalks.”
“Following assessment by Council staff, a number of residents and businesses were contacted to ask them to remove the items,” a Council spokesperson told the website.
‘In mid-January, written notices were issued to remove remaining items, and in February, penalty notices for non-compliance were issued.
“No further penalty notices have been issued.”
More than a dozen letters were also sent to people whose homes front on an alley between Underwood Street and Dudley Street, ordering them to remove a community garden.
But now the council is helping residents apply to have the space approved as a fringe garden.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Woollahra Council for further comment.