Neighbour's Sewer Line - No Easement

Hi

I have a property in Brisbane that many years ago was part of a larger property that was subdivided into 4 blocks in the early 1950's. My property is 20 metres wide and the neighbours on the right hand side (which is the original farmhouse) have their private sewer line running across the middle of my whole backyard to connect to the main council sewer which runs down the far left hand side boundary of my property.

I am thinking of putting a pool in but my backyard is only 7 metres in depth so having their private sewer line going straight through the middle of it makes it impossible to work around it.

The other 2 blocks that were created when the sub division was done back in the 50's were each connected to the council sewer by going through their own properties so it is only this one that goes through mine.

I have spoken to Urban Utilities and they weren't real helpful they basically just confirmed that there is no registered easement for this private sewer line and said that they should have relocated the private sewer line for that property when they did the sub division as that is what they would be required to do these days but obviously things were a bit different 60 years ago.

Urban Utilities said that since there is no actual easement it is a civil matter and I should seek legal advice.

I'm just wondering what my rights are? Would it be at my cost to relocate their private sewer line, their cost or would we go halves etc. Has anyone come across this scenario before?
 
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Whether you get legal advice or make a contribution to the cost of relocation you will end up out of pocket. Can you get an estimate of the cost to relocate and have a friendly chat with your neighbours.
 
My house doesn't connect or join into it at all it only services their house so is that actually considered a combined sewer? It goes from their house straight to the main council sewer line. My house has it's own completely separate sewer line that is nowhere near theirs that connects to the main council sewer line further down.

Wouldn't my sewerage have to connect into it to be considered a combined sewer?
 
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It sounds like the pipe is on an 'informal easement'

Generally the law considers long term informal easements like this the same as a formal titled easement. That means your neighbour has the right to send their sewage down that line and you will need to pay to have the pipe moved.
 
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Hi

I have a property in Brisbane that many years ago was part of a larger property that was subdivided into 4 blocks in the early 1950's. My property is 20 metres wide and the neighbours on the right hand side (which is the original farmhouse) have their private sewer line running across the middle of my whole backyard to connect to the main council sewer which runs down the far left hand side boundary of my property.

I am thinking of putting a pool in but my backyard is only 7 metres in depth so having their private sewer line going straight through the middle of it makes it impossible to work around it.

The other 2 blocks that were created when the sub division was done back in the 50's were each connected to the council sewer by going through their own properties so it is only this one that goes through mine.

I have spoken to Urban Utilities and they weren't real helpful they basically just confirmed that there is no registered easement for this private sewer line and said that they should have relocated the private sewer line for that property when they did the sub division as that is what they would be required to do these days but obviously things were a bit different 60 years ago.

Urban Utilities said that since there is no actual easement it is a civil matter and I should seek legal advice.

I'm just wondering what my rights are? Would it be at my cost to relocate their private sewer line, their cost or would we go halves etc. Has anyone come across this scenario before?
I think you will find most older inner city Brisbane was set-up this way on the plumbing side,i'm also unsure about the legal side but urban utilities only have the sewer plan that only go back so far,the cost factor from experience is above 7k..imho..plus I have been out of the trade for 14 years..
 
15 years ago we did a reno and had a combine sewer with downhill neighbours. Luckily our plumber picked up from our plan that we had our own connection, noted on the plan and we simply had to connect to it. Council had wanted us to pay to connect up and from memory, the cost was around $10K (maybe more?).

Without that plumber picking up the notation on the plan we would have had to just cough up the money. We didn't have a choice, and from memory the rules had only just changed. I think from memory, a few months earlier we could have kept the combine.

Everything stopped whilst Council left us stew for about 9 weeks, with no decision. Plumber told us to sit tight. It was not pretty, mud everywhere, everything just stopped, three little kids, house on steel posts with temporary bracing, temporary waterline, no clothes line, climbing like mountain goats to the back door (front stairs gone), all around great fun :eek:.

But... we did save thousands due to the search saying the connection was there.

Plumber did say that it was likely our application was being passed from in-tray to in-tray with everybody wanting to pass the cost of the stuff up onto someone else's department and someone else's budget. We didn't care because the saving was worth it.
 
15 years ago we did a reno and had a combine sewer with downhill neighbours. Luckily our plumber picked up from our plan that we had our own connection, noted on the plan and we simply had to connect to it. Council had wanted us to pay to connect up and from memory, the cost was around $10K (maybe more?).

Without that plumber picking up the notation on the plan we would have had to just cough up the money. We didn't have a choice, and from memory the rules had only just changed. I think from memory, a few months earlier we could have kept the combine.

Everything stopped whilst Council left us stew for about 9 weeks, with no decision. Plumber told us to sit tight. It was not pretty, mud everywhere, everything just stopped, three little kids, house on steel posts with temporary bracing, temporary waterline, no clothes line, climbing like mountain goats to the back door (front stairs gone), all around great fun :eek:.

But... we did save thousands due to the search saying the connection was there.

Plumber did say that it was likely our application was being passed from in-tray to in-tray with everybody wanting to pass the cost of the stuff up onto someone else's department and someone else's budget. We didn't care because the saving was worth it.

Lucky you had an on the ball plumber Wylie!
 
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