Yes please, we have a retaining wall dilemma & have bought 2 round tanks but yours are ace! I saw you website a while back & put it in the too hard basket case, lol! Message on my profile works fine thanks David, cheers LouieT

Agree, raised planter boxes, just make sure they're deep enough to get some decent planting into them. And as mentioned above, if you make them 400mm - 600mm high, they will be high enough to sit on, or you can create seating nooks withing the built up beds. Also look at changing the colour of the fence, or growing something to screen it.

This sounds like a project that may not have a happy ending. It may take some years to become evident, but the idea to plant into under soil level planters will NOT work long-term. And for builders and engineers advising on this when one assumes they know zilch about plants and how they grow, spells disaster. Get some specialist advice from a professional.

I'm sorry for what you're going through. A few thoughts. "I discovered it wasn’t in their DA. I contacted council over it And they told the owners to remove it. The owners then applied for a building certificate to ratify it. By that stage I was seeing signs of dampness coming through as the raised bed goes approx 41cm above my floor boards. Despite my objections on this the council passed it." Have you asked them why they went back on their original action and insisted on a credible explanation of their change in view of the clear damage your property has suffered as a result of the illegal work? "So armed with a civil engineers report as well as two reports froom damp proofing companies stating the probable cause of the damp wall is the resided be I presented this to council. Council came back and said they were satisfied that the owners had damp proofed my wall." Where is their proof of damp-proofness if you have proof of damp? Obviously if there is damp it's not really damp-proof. I think you need to be a squeaky wheel about their illogical evasion. "He also attached their side passage fence onto our house and attached their extension onto our house which I have been told is illegal. I was also told by their architect that they had to leave a gap between my house wall and their building." Have you looked up the relevant regulations yourself or are you relying on verbal advice and hearsay. There have been times people were lazy about responding to problems I raised and sometimes I found it was effective to be able to quote the applicable official document. If you get the wrong sort of people and you sound like you have only a vague secondhand understanding of the matter they find it easy to contradict that to make their workday easier but if you can quote exact clauses that gives them less room for evasion. "But they sacked him before they completed the work." If it is illegal it is illegal, that is not dependent on the person advising it is illegal being in their employ. "The other think I pointed out to Council is how could they know if my wall has been properly damp proofed when it has already been built." Good question. I know sometimes they accept written documentation stating it was done, which is no more waterproof than the paper it's written on. "Also I pointed out to council that it was bad practice to allow raised beds against someone house wall even if the damp proofing was good as all damp proofing only has a life. The havent address any of my concerns nor have they come out and looked at what is going on with my walls." That's absolutely right. Are you putting it in writing, are you creating a paper trail that puts responsibility on them for inaction regarding damage to your property? "I have spoken to many government depts including the ombudsman, building NSW, and Dept fair trade. They are all shocked that council have allowed this to happen but none can help. But I need to go back to the ombudsman." I'm just shaking my head in frustration at that. Have you tried asking them who can help, or whether they are acknowledging the system is completely useless? Have you tried your local member of parliament?