A private affair

I wouldn’t call myself a libertarian. I understand the value of governments and government bodies in ensuring a fair, vibrant and harmonious society.

But like most people, I don’t necessarily appreciate it when the government tells me what to do when I don’t particularly want to do it.

No, this is not a post about COVID-19 restrictions. I refer simply to the conditions stipulated in our development approval; one of which mandated installation of 1.5m high privacy screens on our outdoor areas.

At the time that we learned of this condition, we were less than enamoured with it. Perhaps it was the freshness of the budgetary pressure from a higher than expected build price, or the frustration of taking seven months to obtain council approval, but I was not in the mood to spend thousands of dollars on something we neither wanted nor felt would achieve its intended purpose. I mean, how much privacy can you get with a screen that is only 1.5m high?

Turns out, you can get a decent amount of privacy with 1.5m of screen.

Here’s a shot of our alfresco area, and you can see that the screen actually does a decent job of obscuring the view into our home from the street. So much so, that I’m left here eating my words.

Now 1.5m isn’t exactly high, and I can easily see over it if I wish to, but the screen will allow us some measure of privacy if we’re sitting on the alfresco enjoying a meal. Also, the screen is directly in front of a set of three sliding glass doors so we may not even need blinds or curtains over it. That’s a win.

The requirement for a privacy screen 1.5m high was also extended to our first floor alfresco. This one is probably a little overkill, but it’ll likely help protect the privacy of my future neighbours one day (assuming I can’t be bothered walking up to the screen and looking over it of course – like I said, 1.5m is not exactly high).