In 2014 a Local Government received a complaint about a short
term accommodation (STA) business that was
operating within its district. When the City officers attended the
Property the Accused admitted that he was running a short term
accommodation business at the Property, that he had been doing so
for approximately 3 years, and that that when he asked if approval
was required, he was told development approval was not
required.
The Property was advertised as available for short stay
accommodation on various internet sites, which also included
reviews from people who had stayed at the Property during the
offence period. The Magistrate determined that the only reasonable
inference that could be drawn from this material was that the
people yielding the online reviews had stayed in the Property
during the offence period and had paid the Accused for the right to
do so.
