Weir Legal & Consulting acted for the Council in a Building Appeals Board matter heard on 28 May 2026 concerning safari structures at a registered caravan park in Bright.

The Building Appeals Board has determined that ‘safari structures’ constructed at a registered caravan park in Bright are not moveable dwellings and therefore are not exempt from the requirement for a building permit.

The structures in question were erected at the caravan park in 2022. Council’s MBS issued a building notice on the basis that the structures were built without a building permit. The notice asked the owners to show cause why the structures should be removed. The safari tents have remained in place but have not been occupied pending the outcome of this appeal.

The owner of the caravan park argued that a building permit was not required because the structures were ‘moveable dwellings’ as defined in section 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 and were therefore exempt from the requirement for a building permit under section 517 of that Act.  The safari tents are comprised of subfloor angle braces, pole holders and hulk anchors connected using bolt-fixed systems. A wooden flooring system is connected with a series of screws. The structures have canvas walls and roof; they are plumbed and connected to electricity. They have a timber veranda with stairs and a balustrade offering a lounge area that can be fitted with a BBQ.  

The applicant argued that the safari tents were designed to be moveable. They said that the structures were erected over 2 to 3 days but that the total time to erect was less than 24 hours. They said that the definition of moveable dwelling did not require the time taken to dismantle the structures to be included in the 24-hour test. The MBS argued that the structures were substantial. They did not consist of prefabricated components and were built by conventional methods on site over several days. The MBS argued that the 24-hour test required the structures to be able to be both installed and removed within a single 24-hour period which was not the case here.

The Board confirmed that the definition of ‘moveable dwelling’ had 2 limbs, namely 1. whether the structure was designed to be moveable; and 2. whether they could be ‘situated at and removed’ from the site within 24 hours.

The Board found that the structures were not designed to be moveable. Whilst the applicant asserted that they were designed to be moveable, the evidence given by the manufacture was that in practice relocation is very rare and that the installation and removal was a substantial coordinated exercise involving several installers. The Board said the structures were more closely aligned with semi-permanent cabins than relocatable modular structures. In relation to the 24-hour test, the Board found that the time taken to both assemble and disassemble the structures was relevant. On the evidence from the manufacturer, it would take a total of 32-35 hours over several days to assemble and disassemble the structures. The Board said that regardless of whether the test required the structures to be installed and removed within a 24-hour period or over a 24-hour period across multiple days, these structures did not satisfy the second limb of the definition of moveable dwelling.

We note that prior to and during the hearing the Applicants argued this Council was acting inconsistently with other Councils that have allowed these structures to be installed in some of its other caravan parks around Victoria. This decision will be relevant for MBS on other municipalities where similar types of structures have been installed.

If you would like advice in relation to this decision, please contact [email protected].