I have just received a phone call from my parents that concerned me and I thought I would post it here to get some more information regarding this as they and I are not sure where we stand.
The Property Diagram (hope it makes sense)
The Story:
My parents have lived in this house for at least 5 years. The house has a very large back yard which ‘rolls’ into an open drain (typical Nth QLD open drain/ditch) in a semi-rural area. Past the drain ‘was’ open paddocks with grazing cattle – very nice. Well urban expansion has claimed their peaceful property and the council have recently built a LARGE road crossing the paddock (another story!!). Around this is now a planned development/subdivision from a Sydney developer (won’t name publicly). Basically, the developer wishes to subdivide that area and create another suburb. Although there is nothing my parents could do about it that is not the problem.
The Drain area is abut 6-10m wide and runs along the back of the blocks properties. This is classified as a council drainage easement (from investigation).
The Problem:
2 days ago my parents received a ‘nice’ official letter from the developers lawyers stating that my parents property fence has encroached the drain, and therefore his property. They wish to get this property back. However, they have calculated the cost of that ~2m sliver of land at $31,000, but due to their good-will he his willing to reduce this cost to $21,000!. If they agree to this they need to send a ‘NO REFUNDABLE’ cheque for $8,000 by this Friday!!. Now this is north QLD, (Mackay) and I can’t see how a 2x10m sliver of land on a drainage easement is worth $31,000. After talking to a developer friend he has said that ‘the developer has worked out the full development cost of the land and divided it into 1m costs – and is being cocky and hoping you pay for it’. Now my concerns:
1. My parents realise (now) that building the fence flush with the back of the adjacent properties without surveying has resulted in them encroaching on adjacent land. It would appear that the angle of the original edge of the block was incorrectly measured from the right-hand end thus creating an every increasing problem right-to-left.
2. The council has stated that the developer can ‘just change the zoning’ of the easement and thus create a larger block on which to develop? The drain is required from experience for the large rains as their house is at the bottom of a court and all the hills water drains down into that ditch. Can a developer ‘just change’ the zoning of an open drain??
3. The developer has demanded the $8000 NON-refundable cheque… Is this possible/legal? Asking the council, the developer has not even submitted plans for the development so why does he need the money in 1weeks time!!?
4. My parents don’t really have an argument about the encroachment of the drain however their neighbours house (70yr old widow) had bought the house 8 years earlier with a fenced and ‘established’ back-yard. Obviously she did not complete a survey of the land (but not many people do – I have heard) so does she have any claim. BTW the sliver of land actually gets bigger into her property and she is up for $39,000 (offered $29,000). The next neighbour is even bigger but their backyard is empty.
5. What are the next steps?? Can they just do nothing? Make a claim to the council to keep the easement (needed – unless built underground), call A Current affair ;-) etc etc
The most likely result will just be them having to pull down a 2mth old fence (expensive) that they recently built trying to stop all the noise from the road and move it back 2m.
The quick road story. The council originally stated that the road would be built with a ‘quiet surface finish’. Well typical council didn’t do this step ($$$). The local suburb partitioned to try and get the council to put on the quiet surface but to no avail with the council stalling just long enough to sell all the land to the developer and now it ‘is the developers problem,’… Ahh gotta love councils. (But I realise that the council will still own the road)
My parents are basically p#%#ed off at the arrogance and seemingly dodgy methods this developer is doing to get ALL the land possible.
If anyone can offer any suggestions or advice to resolve this then I will gladly pass it on.
DaveJ
The Property Diagram (hope it makes sense)
The Story:
My parents have lived in this house for at least 5 years. The house has a very large back yard which ‘rolls’ into an open drain (typical Nth QLD open drain/ditch) in a semi-rural area. Past the drain ‘was’ open paddocks with grazing cattle – very nice. Well urban expansion has claimed their peaceful property and the council have recently built a LARGE road crossing the paddock (another story!!). Around this is now a planned development/subdivision from a Sydney developer (won’t name publicly). Basically, the developer wishes to subdivide that area and create another suburb. Although there is nothing my parents could do about it that is not the problem.
The Drain area is abut 6-10m wide and runs along the back of the blocks properties. This is classified as a council drainage easement (from investigation).
The Problem:
2 days ago my parents received a ‘nice’ official letter from the developers lawyers stating that my parents property fence has encroached the drain, and therefore his property. They wish to get this property back. However, they have calculated the cost of that ~2m sliver of land at $31,000, but due to their good-will he his willing to reduce this cost to $21,000!. If they agree to this they need to send a ‘NO REFUNDABLE’ cheque for $8,000 by this Friday!!. Now this is north QLD, (Mackay) and I can’t see how a 2x10m sliver of land on a drainage easement is worth $31,000. After talking to a developer friend he has said that ‘the developer has worked out the full development cost of the land and divided it into 1m costs – and is being cocky and hoping you pay for it’. Now my concerns:
1. My parents realise (now) that building the fence flush with the back of the adjacent properties without surveying has resulted in them encroaching on adjacent land. It would appear that the angle of the original edge of the block was incorrectly measured from the right-hand end thus creating an every increasing problem right-to-left.
2. The council has stated that the developer can ‘just change the zoning’ of the easement and thus create a larger block on which to develop? The drain is required from experience for the large rains as their house is at the bottom of a court and all the hills water drains down into that ditch. Can a developer ‘just change’ the zoning of an open drain??
3. The developer has demanded the $8000 NON-refundable cheque… Is this possible/legal? Asking the council, the developer has not even submitted plans for the development so why does he need the money in 1weeks time!!?
4. My parents don’t really have an argument about the encroachment of the drain however their neighbours house (70yr old widow) had bought the house 8 years earlier with a fenced and ‘established’ back-yard. Obviously she did not complete a survey of the land (but not many people do – I have heard) so does she have any claim. BTW the sliver of land actually gets bigger into her property and she is up for $39,000 (offered $29,000). The next neighbour is even bigger but their backyard is empty.
5. What are the next steps?? Can they just do nothing? Make a claim to the council to keep the easement (needed – unless built underground), call A Current affair ;-) etc etc
The most likely result will just be them having to pull down a 2mth old fence (expensive) that they recently built trying to stop all the noise from the road and move it back 2m.
The quick road story. The council originally stated that the road would be built with a ‘quiet surface finish’. Well typical council didn’t do this step ($$$). The local suburb partitioned to try and get the council to put on the quiet surface but to no avail with the council stalling just long enough to sell all the land to the developer and now it ‘is the developers problem,’… Ahh gotta love councils. (But I realise that the council will still own the road)
My parents are basically p#%#ed off at the arrogance and seemingly dodgy methods this developer is doing to get ALL the land possible.
If anyone can offer any suggestions or advice to resolve this then I will gladly pass it on.
DaveJ
