Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 02, 2010 2:37 pm Hi I have bought my first block of land with the girlfriend, we are really happy with it and intend to build our brand new house in about a years time. I have quite a few mates who are working in earth movements so i have access to cheap excavation and plan to excavate and build a fence around the part of the block that has no fence well before i intend on building the main dwelling. Just to stage things so everything isn't happening at once, plus to stagger the costs. As this was our first block of land we enlisted a conveyancing firm handle and provide advice to what the schedule of easements and covenants deciphered to, and basically handle all background searches on the title of the block of land etc... Basically the block is semi-rural with no restrictions except must be built within the bush fire act standards and the geotechnical report(how deep footings etc. have to be) There was only one easement on the block and that was to the drain at the front of the block, a good 20-30 meters of where i intend to build, no problems there. There is a private power pole on the block with a live overhead cable running to it, power to my block i thought. I have attached a picture to explain the situation a little better than words could. The block i purchased was part of a bigger block, the owners of the bigger block subdivided and sold me the smaller block(1320 m LOT 1). I dont know the owners, I purchased the block via normal methods, through a real estate agency) The picture basically says the owners of lot 2 has their power running though lot 1 (my block now). This would have been the case before they subdivided, as LOT 1 and LOT 2 where both theirs but not as LOTS but as one big parcel of land. hope i have made things clear by providing the picture and my narratives. Basically i am ready to excavate, but i dont want to excavate while their power is running through my block and just to clarify the power situation was not mentioned in any contract, any plan made available to me as if it was i would not have purchased the block until it was moved. Questions: Should their Underground power lines running through my block been removed before the subdivision was approved? if not Should it have been mentioned in the schedule of easements? and is what is going on even legal? and How should i approach them to move their mains underground cable so i can start excavation?(without causing a tiff as they will be my neighbors) Sorry for the long winded 1st ever post. Please if i have not explained myself properly i will try my best to answer any Q's. Cheers Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 2Aug 02, 2010 2:48 pm i was always under the impression that you can run you power through someone elses propery. They should have made provision before subdividing. Are you sure they are running power through your land and how do you know this?? Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 4Aug 02, 2010 6:03 pm Hi Doggatas Is this power line on any plans at all? To start with, extremely dangerous and you should have a pole saying something to the effect of underground power lines...with have on our farm. If there are no plans of the line, it may be totall illegal. You need to talk to the local council about this because they will have all the information on file. Best to do your homework first before approaching the neighbours....have all your facts correct given to you by the approprate authorities. There is no way you can build any dwelling on your property as it stands. Whats more, someone could have been seriouly hurt by digging up that power line, you have done the right thing by getting the power company in before taking on any work. Mrs B Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 5Aug 02, 2010 8:06 pm I can assure you, this was not mentioned on any of the plans provided to me by the vendors. Nor was there mention of any plan that outlines this underground cable. I mean come on, as if anyone would by a block of land knowing they couldn't use it for the purpose they intended, As I'm knew to this I'm guessing that is what the schedule of easements is for, outlining any covenants and restrictions on the parcel of land. I was deceived by the vendors and/or real estate agent. But most likely the vendors because they may not have told the real estate agency of the cable. I'm not too sure if i can blame the conveyancing firm as this was not outlined in any documentation provided to them by the vendors. For our first major purchase, it has certainly left a bad taste in our mouths. But hopefully everything falls in our favour and they relocate their mains without any issues. A battle in court is not what i need right now. Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 6Aug 02, 2010 9:06 pm Obviously your neighbours are fully aware of the underground power line. If it was me, I would be going straight to the council and have a talk to the town planner. Honestly, councils are a wealth of information and will steer you in the right direction. Make an appointment to see the town Planner with all the documentation you have. Great time to also chat about the house you want to build. It is just one little hiccup so I wouldnt worry too much about it...just yet. Go through the motions of talking to all relevant authorities before you take the issue to a solicitor. Good Luck and I hope the neighbour will have to move it at their expense. Mrs B Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 7Aug 02, 2010 10:39 pm Definitely utilise the council as a tool! I would also seek the help of your conveyancer. We were advised by our builders of an easement on the land next to ours AFTER we had signed the contract and we were never notified about this easement - this easement may have caused excessive site costs due to concrete peiring of our slab. Like you have said - we never would have purchased that land had we known of the easement. When I brought this up in the conveyancers office - he said to get all of my information/documents/drawings etc of the land that was provided to us at the time of the purchase and he said he would fight the developer/real estate agent - for not notifying us of a change to the plan of subdivision that would affect our intended use of the land. If you were never advised of the power lines - then you could not make an educated decision on wanting to purchase the land. Also - this should have been mentioned in the Section 32... there may be grounds to argue this information was not disclosed at the time of purchase. Good luck Sleven Moved into our Atlantique MkII 36 by Carlisle Homes Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 8Aug 06, 2010 1:27 pm Just to give you an update.... The council path was a waste of time, no one there wanted to know about. I get the feeling anyone involved doesn't want to know about it because its a big mistake on someones behalf and no one wants to take responsibility in fear of the repercussions. I'm basically left with no other options but to employee the services of a property lawyer to get to the bottom of this. Fees i should not have to be forking out because someone has * and deceived me. If i need to make it a sh1t fight with the people i purchased the block off i will. Ill build a house on the land (after the cables gone) then sell it in 12 months time. Not what i had in plan for my first house, but ill do it if i have to. Speaking to lawyer this afternoon... Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 9Aug 06, 2010 2:30 pm Mate , head straight over to your neighbor who uses the power.Tell him what you are doing.Surely your not the first person to contact him on this issue? If i was your neighbor i would like to be contacted and certain info given to me. The law is the law. Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 10Aug 06, 2010 4:39 pm Ok I should have mentioned i managed to get a copy of the Services Plan for the new subdivision. On the services plan it states the power supply to lot 2 was to be relocated, amongst other services that passed through my block like storm water, as fair as i can tell looking at the plans and whats on the block, everything has been complied with except the power has not been relocated. After gaining this information i did ask the owners and they were like "We have done everything we need to do" This post should have been posted before the post about the lawyers. sorry about that. so as you can appreciate im am stuck and the lawyer is the last option. I am the first person to contact them as it is only a 2 LOT subdivision, theirs and mine. Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 11Aug 06, 2010 11:25 pm Quote: After gaining this information i did ask the owners and they were like "We have done everything we need to do" Except the costly bit Maybe now you can force an issue as a concerned tax paying owner who has discovered illegal power wiring running through the property. Ok so you have your owners deed. You found un accountable power wires leading through your property and into another and you have a verified report to prove it. Your neighbors claim they dont know anything about Illegal power wires. I would ring the police.Yes the police,lol Its not that you would be harsh or dis respectful , you have done everything except contact a Law officer. Its the next step, not the lawyer. Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 12Aug 09, 2010 10:51 am Got it all sorted... Managed to get hold of the engineers who worked on the subdivision. They knew the cables and private pole had to be removed, as they signed off on the subdivision. The engineers are acting on behalf of the sub-dividers, they are organising with electrical contractors and local energy company to relocate the power cables and pole. They are including me in the relocation of the pole so it can be put in a neutral position so when i need power connected to my new house i can run my under ground mains to the same pole. They called it a "shared pole". quite common apparently. My guess is the engineers had an agreement with the sub-dividers to wait until the new land owners were established so the the single private pole could be relocated to be utilized by both LOTS. Because when you subdivide the subdividers have to have all services available to the new LOT. If they didn't wait it would have been twice the work. Once to relocate and get the cables off my property and secondly to supply my LOT with power. I suspect lines of communication were broken down somewhere, either on purpose, to try and cut costs and make it hard for whoever bought the block or an innocent mistake. Im not going to worry about that now because the correct resolution has finally been found. Thanks to all for the input. Re: New Block purchase - Small or large Issue 13Aug 09, 2010 12:05 pm Great outcome, good on you for chasing it all down. consider putting in wall WC instead of robe in the same bedroom, then it might be doable to hook up to the existing piping. 4 6634 4 4500 Thankyou for your advice. We do have Caesar coming out and hopefully resolve the issue for us. 4 18757 |