We have a House!!

[Diane]

You could always mention the other attractions of keeping birds in a large area in your garden.

Less grass to mow - therefore environmentally friendly.
Something to view while sitting under your pergola (you may need to build a pergola to justify this comment!)
Guests to your home can admire the beauty of colourful birds living in their own green corner of your garden.

Im sure you can think of several more that will bolster your application for a large bird area!

[iaos]

Congrats. How many square metres did you end up with?

We are looking to up grade at the moment from a 125 sq m block. Top of the list is "where could the aviaries go".

Cheers Ian

Around 800 sq m it is a wide block with side areas

I think I will be dreaming to get a 5m X 7m plot I have in mind after the panic attack that it created. But i have hope and patience.

Cheers.

Gee that's less than 5%. I would be starting with much more ambitious dreams and the scaling back the plans as part of the compromise

Cheers Ian

[finchbreeder]

"We are looking to up grade at the moment from a 125 sq m block."
The fact that reading that bought a look of horror to my face shows I am a country girl. Anything under 300sqm is a garden bed in my books. Maybe that is why the son is having trouble finding a suitable place to buy, he couldn't bear to live on under 600sqm. Yep he's his parents son. My just under 900sqm is bearable. With hubbys 5 x 15m shed and my 5 x 4m avairy complex (yeah I know it's too small, but I keep working on the builder to increase it) Good luck to you both, 1 with getting 5% of the yard under avairys, and 1 with getting a real block of land in the future.
LML

[arthur]

Yes . .

The words of a particularly pompous 'Parks' officer keep coming back to me

When I complained to him that Parks & Wildlife were trying to force people out of birdkeeping with their iniquitous regs

He calmly said: "We don't have to . . . the townplanners will do it for us!"

[E Orix]

Just reading these posts make me so happy living here in down town Howlong.
Access to plenty of water, large blocks of land and less hassle plus all the services that we require.
Also where else could I fit my 700 sq. m aviary, it's bigger than a lot of city house blocks.

[SamDavis]

... 700 sq. m aviary ...

I'm gunna build one of those next! Just need approval.

[E Orix]

Sam
One thing you need is a very flat block of land.
My first big aviary was built on a sloping block and the hassles and cost incurred made me realise the next land for my new
home had to be dead flat and it is.

[finchbreeder]

When you are measuring up the land drop for a 8 x 7.5 Unit and discover the slight slope on the block is .75m from diagonal corners you learn how deceptive a slope can be. Until the new regs come in here in WA a Granny flat con not be over 60sqm. So birds are better off space wise with Orix than young couples who can only afford to live in a granny flat here in WA. So Arthur you are so right with the Town Planners and their pocket hankerchief blocks. We have a big country, why can't we have big blocks? Yes I know about costs, but I also know about greed.
LML

[E Orix]

Most times the developer can buy open land quite cheaply.
The cost follow, councils are the biggest offenders, they insist on all top grade services under ground power etc etc.
Then maybe several hundred meters of access road without anyone else contributing. You then have the normal
construction costs. Then the council tells you how many blocks of land you must donate to them for parkland etc.
It just goes on and on, in the mean time you can sell the land and collect deposits but you can't use the money it goes into trust
and the Govt. gets the interest. Finally you finish the development but wait the titles office still needs 14 to 28+ days to stamp the certificates so you can then finalise the transactions and get some money. In the mean time the Bank has been charging you interest. End result 50K or much more per block is added to the cost.
Maybe the young home buyers would be willing to pay less for less amenities.
It's called progress!!!!!!!!!

[finchbreeder]

Tell me about it. 15 years ago you could draw up and submit your own plans and take responsability as an owner builder for the quality of the building. Now you need a draftsman/architect to do the plan, an engineer to say it wont fall down, the council must agree that it is green. And the fees have tripled, while you are still totally responsible. And I agree that people expect a lot more these days, while they would probably be better off without some of it.
LML