The NSW Land and Environment Court has fined a man over a house built without approval in the Camden Haven.
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Benjamin Lloyd Notley, a builder, pleaded guilty to carrying out development without consent.
He was convicted and ordered to pay a $12,000 fine.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council took legal action against Mr Notley with the NSW Land and Environment Court handing down its decision last month.
The judgment said having regard to the objective seriousness of the offence and the subjective circumstances of Mr Notley, a fine of $12,000 was imposed and Mr Notley was ordered to pay the council's legal costs.
The council's costs are "likely to be not insubstantial".
The three-bedroom house, for Mr Notley and two of his children to live in, was on land near Bonny Hills.
Mr Notley did not seek consent for any development on the property.
An ecological impact statement would have been needed before any consent was granted.
The court said the offence of undertaking development without consent involved Mr Notley taking action that undermined the integrity of the system of planning and development controls.
The house has been demolished.
