Artist Hanif Wondir stepped up when asked for help by his neighbour. Picture: Hanif Wondir
Aussies can count themselves lucky to have understanding councils, after a man hit with hefty fines over a simple driveway dispute got his own savage revenge.
The homeowner was slapped with a Seaside council infringement notice after complaints over his boat parked in the driveway – then took matters into his neighbour’s hands with an epic payback.
His cheeky response struck a chord with many Aussies facing similar battles with neighbours over boats, caravans, trailers, and unregistered vehicles parked on residential properties, grass verges, or the street for months.
But for many, it’s also a reminder of just how lenient Australian rules can be when it comes to turning public land – including grass verges – and the parking spot in front of your home into your own private kingdom.
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The mural done by Hanif Wondir for his neighbour. Picture: Hanif Wondir
The boat is still tucked in behind the new fence/gate on the driveway but you can’t miss it if you tried now. Picture: Hanif Wondir
The homeowner was forced to put up a fence and gate to hide his boat to improve the “visual amenity” of the area. But he outsmarted the council and the complainant by roping in neighbour and mural artist Hanif Wondir.
“After reluctantly building the fence and driveway, he presented a cheeky idea to me that would require my artistic skills.”
Mr Wondir painted a hyper-realistic optical illusion of the boat, driveway, and house directly onto the new fence and gate – so convincing it looks as though the council’s order never existed.
“A painting of a boat in a driveway next to a house on a fence in front of a boat in a driveway next to a house,” Mr Wondir said of the artwork.
The mural fooled everyone, with one passer-by admitting they “thought it was a plastic see-through fence at first.”
Even officials reportedly saw the funny side, with a council staffer visiting to take photos and congratulate the homeowner.
In Australia, opposition is growing to boats taking over suburbs, though the rules vary wildly across the country with Jade Boat Loans flagging that some allow indefinite “mooring” on streets (provided they’re under 7.5 metres and registered), while others demand owners move them every 24 hours or even ban them outright from streets.
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The hyper realistic mural has many people looking twice. Picture: Hanif Wondir
In NSW they must be moved every 28 days (registered) or 15 days (unregistered) if the trailer is parked on the street,
Victoria, ACT, Queensland and Tasmania allow indefinite parking if under 7.5m and registered with a one hour limit if larger.
WA and SA have the strictest rules, with many councils requiring boats hitched to vehicles and moved every 24 hours, or don’t permit residential parking at all, while in NT the rules are set by individual councils based on Australian road rules.
They recommend all boat owners should check in with their local council over the rules – with some undergoing recent updates including the Sunshine Coast Council after it was handed a community petition calling for enforcement of existing regulations to crack down on “unofficial camping” of residents’ possessions on suburban streets.
No solution was offered for where the owners of any these vehicles, boats or trailers could park instead, but the petition was tabled and a motion passed linked to it – with the council CEO to now determine appropriate action to address the issues raised by residents.
At least one Aussie council, Noosa Shire, goes out of its way to provide trailer parking spaces for boat owners close to the water, to prevent blow-ups in the suburbs over boats. It said “whilst parking a registered boat trailer on local streets is lawful, long-term parking on busy roads is discouraged”.
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A humble homeowner now has the most epic gate a boat owner could want.
The attention to detail has some thinking the gate is see-through plastic. Picture: Hanif Wondir
In Mr Wondir’s neighbour’s case, the large trailer with the boat was not parked on the street, but on his driveway beside his house – a far cry from the Gold Coast, where a community site has been inundated with complaints over boats.
One resident was disgusted over neighbours putting out orange cones on the street “so their nearly 60yo son can always park his boat and trailer on the street”.
She said when workers parked there, he “lost his sh*t so much over ‘his spot’ on the street being taken, he actually nudged the worker with the bullbar on his car as the worker walked across the street to the house being renovated. Nearly turned into fisty cuffs. Best thing it was all caught on the renovated house’s camera.”
Hanif Wondir even got his son involved in the mural.
