Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Easement and sewage lines 4Dec 17, 2020 7:22 pm Prakash Manet worldofmud Prakash Manet Hello people, Thanks in advance for your help. Brief intro: We have recently bought a peace of land on the Gold Coast that was subdivided couple of years ago in 2 blocks. We bought the bottom part and 3 easements are shown on the plans that have the signature of the city council. We have bought the land, drawn the house that is following the rules of construction next to an easement. Now that we have submitted the plans to the council, they have mentioned that the sewage line is in fact not in the easement and in consequence this makes us change our plans not in our favour. The sewage is going right in the middle of the block and we are loosing space that we did not intend to loose initially. I would like to know, who is responsible for this as our lawyer checked the plans, our bank who granted the loan also checked the plans and the city has signed all plans where the easements are drawn. This sewage outside the easement line is a total suprise. Any ideas, thoughts on how we could fight this is most welcome or who should we talk to. Regards, Prakash M. Hi, That sounds like a nightmare and I would have no idea where to begin on the legal side. It sounds like it might be difficult and potentially not particularly determining who is at fault. I'm not saying just accept it as 'one of those things' but maybe get a plan B as presumably the land value has decreased and the build is compromised. Have you looked at what the restrictions are building over it? As it is not an easement you may (or may not) find that you can build over it providing you span the pipe by transferring new loads to the side of or below the sewer (see link). You may have already determined you cant build over it but worth double checking as the restrictions vary. https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/documents/bf/building-over-or-near-sewer-infrastructure-guidelines.pdf One thought-was/is the easement for the sole purpose of the sewer pipe? Best of luck Hey, Thank you very much for your thoughts. Let me bring further info. Our builder came back with a plan B and we can indeed build over the sewage line but a part of our built is compromised anyway. There is some loss at some extend as we have to respect some space around the "new" sewage line. That does impact our build to an extend that I don't "just" want to accept it. This is not the house we paid for initially. My question is as we have the plans with the city stamp on it and the officer signature on it as well, in my sense it's the council fault as they have ommited to add the sewage line in the right direction and signed the document. Now they are coming back to this but it s not fair for us. There are 2 parties who made a mistake in my view: 1. The company who subdivided the plan and drew the easements lines and omitted to add the sewage line or placed the easement in the wrong spot. 2. The city council who approved it without verifying what they have in their records. Which they are doing now after we bought the land unfortunately for us. Would it be beneficial for me to just go to the council with the approved plans and ask them why they have approved such a plan where the sewage line is not showing? This is adding time, cost to my whole project and I don't think I m the one who should compromise on everything. Regards and your answer is really helping me understand. Hi, I'm not really qualified to provide an answer on the best course of action but I think you should get as much information as possible. Have you done a DBYD search? Reason I ask is that it may show more information on why the easement was incorrectly drawn. If you haven't done so already, go to this site, create an account (its free and takes minutes) and do a service check yourself. https://www.1100.com.au/ The error will likely be because the original owners/sellers/developers relied on existing records without confirming the location directly. How did the Council know it was in the wrong place? Some development must have occurred around your block to alert them. The timing of that development (or whatever happened) in relation to your purchase would be useful to know as well. One more thing that popped to mind-were you provided a detailed survey before the purchase as part of the document pack? If so you may find a caveat in there, unfortunately. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge than me will chip in.. You should be able to encase the sewer but you will need it designed and approved and access to lot 580 to do the work 2 17155 You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16146 Thanks - yea sounds like I need to submit build over easement application....ugh guess I better start finding someone who can do the engineering drawings 3 3359 |