IF A man's home is his castle, then Barry Dickson believes his castle is under siege.
Barry and Betty Dickson have lived together at the corner of the Princes Highway and Regent Street since they married in 1953. Now in their 80s, the Dicksons feel they are under pressure to sell their 102-year-old house on prime development land.
However, the people involved in a new project said they had left the Dicksons alone after finding that they did not want to sell and said "We haven't harassed them".
The Dickson's is the only house on a short strip of the highway which is not owned by two developers, DeiCorp Constructions director Fouad Deiri and Bexley-based dentist Dr Theo Spyrakis.
Dr Spyrakis and Mr Deiri have applied to build an eight-storey, 75-unit building next to the Dicksons' family home. They offered to buy the Dicksons' land when the project started but Mr Dickson said his family would stay in the house.
"It will be a monument to show what happens when you don't give in," he said. "We certainly don't want to sell."
Dr Spyrakis said the Dicksons were "crazy for not selling", as he said construction next door was inevitable.
Mr Dickson feels overwhelmed by the project. "My health has deteriorated and my wife can't sleep at night," he said.
Their worries have not been eased by Kogarah Council's requirement that development controls for their land are altered in tandem with the blocks owned by Mr Deiri and Dr Spyrakis and would pave the way for future development.
The council also asked the developers to provide illustrations depicting how the Dicksons' land could be used if they chose to sell.
But Mr Dickson remained resolute. "A lot of people will ask 'Why doesn't the old bastard go?' but you show me where there's a house on a corner block with room to park five vehicles close to the hospital and with a shed," he said. "I can't see how we can solve this problem."
The development proposed to sit next to the Dicksons' would lie next to a 24-unit block already developed by Mr Spyrakis.
The Southern Sydney Design Review Panel called the new project "overbearing" last year when they lopped off a storey from the 75-unit plans and asked the top three floors be set back from the street.
Dr Spyrakis said the changes had cut about 10 units off the plan and reduced the development's profitability. "This is really cutting it fine," he said. "I want to do something that looks good, serves the public and supplies housing.
"But we [also] do it to make money. It has got to be profitable."
