Corner block, need side fence to start about 1m earlier than the estate guidelines allow. Has anyone been through this?

Hi all, hoping someone here has been through something similar.

Victoria, corner block in a newer estate, house not finished yet.

The estate design guidelines say side boundary fencing on a corner lot has to start a minimum distance behind the front facade. Following that puts the fence return just past a recessed courtyard on the side of the house, which has sliding doors opening onto it. So the courtyard ends up on the street side of the fence. Anyone can walk off the footpath, down the side and stand right outside the glass.

To close it off properly I need the return about 1m earlier than the guidelines allow. It would still sit well behind the front facade and nowhere near the street frontage.

A few things I would really appreciate a view on:

1. Has anyone had a small variation like this approved by an estate design panel? Is around 1m something they are usually relaxed about, or do they hold the line?
2. Does it help to send photos of other lots in the estate where something similar exists?
3. My builder reckons it is fine to just build it slightly over and nobody will notice. I am not comfortable with that. For anyone who has seen a breach play out, what actually happens and when does it surface?
4. Is "no fence forward of the front facade" normally a restriction on the plan of subdivision, or just an estate guideline? I understand those are quite different for enforceability.
5. This is the one I am most curious about. If they knock back the fence, is there anything else that can cover that 1m? I keep hearing there are structures that do the job of a fence without being classed as one, like a raised planter or a screen fixed to the house. Has anyone actually done this and had it accepted?

Even a partial answer would help a lot. Thanks for your time.