The story which aired on A Current Affair last night did not reflect Council’s involvement with Ms Peace and our endeavours to support her to have her issues resolved. The following statement was provided to A Current Affair prior to the story airing:
Since becoming aware of Ms Peace’s situation, Northern Beaches Council has done everything in our power to assist Ms Peace including fast tracking the assessment of her development application, deferring her bond payment so she could obtain a construction certificate and writing to Revenue NSW to support her application for a tax exemption.
On a number of occasions Council has encouraged Ms Peace to submit a Claim for Compensation to cover the stormwater pipe relocation cost. The last correspondence with Ms Peace regarding this was in July 2021 where she was provided with, and encouraged to complete, a claim form and provide the relevant documentation.
To date Council has still not received this claim and we would again urge Ms Peace to submit it as soon as possible so her claim for compensation can be assessed.
It is noted that at the end of the A Current Affair story that Ms Peace said she is not willing to submit this claim unless the outcome is guaranteed. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of a compensation claim which we have not yet received.
However, over the past two years, Council has encouraged Ms Peace to submit the claim which could cover the stormwater pipe relocation cost and correspondence received from Ms Peace last year indicated she would do so. Again, we urge Ms Peace to submit her claim so it can be promptly assessed and the issue resolved.
