Court orders Granties Maze owner to dismantle 'materially unsafe' amusement rides

John Grant, the owner of the Granties Maze in the NSW Illawarra, has been ordered to dismantle more than two dozen attractions at the fun park - including a climbing wall, bumper car track and inflatable obstacle course - by the NSW Land and Environment Court who deemed were "materially unsafe" and were built without council approval.

However, Grant, who has been involved in repeated disputes with Kiama Council and the NSW authorities over the years as he sought to develop the Foxground attraction on the NSW south coast, says he will appeal the decision.

The Court made the order earlier this week in a judgment delivered after a three-year legal battle between Grant and Kiama Council.

Grant, who has invested more than $10 million into the eclectic fun park centred on a maze nurtured over more than three decades, now has 90 days to dismantle the rides but says he will appeal the decision.

The Court ordered that Grant dismantle 27 of the more than 80 rides and attractions after accepting evidence that some attractions were "materially unsafe" and were installed without development consent.

As reported by the ABC, Grant stated "I am very disappointed … I will appeal this thing.”

Kiama Council’s action was based on a report it commissioned a report by amusement ride engineer Clinton Ford who found Granties Maze was a "novel and heartwarming concept" but the "practical reality" was the business did not have the capacity to deliver its services in line with industry standards.

As a result, the Council claimed "the majority of the devices are not in acceptable operating condition" with some that were "materially unsafe".

It also claimed the business had inadequate measures to ensure visitors were safe.

Justice John Robson found Grant had been given ample opportunity to obtain development consent for his rides and he had discretely installed numerous attractions without development consent.

He found "I accept Mr Ford's evidence and council's submissions that the operation of Granties Maze is insufficiently managed, operated, and maintained to offer a basic family amusement park.”

According to the judgment, Ford found most of the devices on the property were “not in acceptable operating condition nor suitable to operate in the environment in which they are located”.

Grant denied the rides were unsafe and said SafeWork NSW had carried out numerous inspections of his property and he had complied with its advice.

He added that the rides the Council had identified as unsafe were not in operation.

The Court case began in 2021 when Grant launched legal action to stop council staff entering his property to remove rides it had deemed ‘high-risk’, including an archery range, ‘ninja walls’ and a Clydesdale horse ride.

The Court rejected Grant’s application and the council then applied for approval to take down the rides.

Granties Maze
Inspired by a visit to the historic maze at Hampton Court in London, Grant began developing his own maze based attraction in the 1980s.

After a series of disputes with Kiama Council the maze, along with accompanying attractions finally opened to the public in 2015.

In addition to what he spent on the fun park, Grant also contributed $300,000 to improve road access to the attraction.

Images: John Grant at Granties Maze (top), the attraction's centrepiece maze (middle) and its Spiders Web climbing feature (below).