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I own a property which has an open drainage easment along one…

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I own a property which...

I own a property which has an open drainage easment along one boundry. The land it occupies is included in my land title. The only people who use the easment for drainage is a motel which occupies one boundry. The motel is about to undergo a rebuild which will increase their catchment area about four fold which would increase the flow onto my property by a similar ammount. There is another problem in that the discharge pipe from the motel is lower than the outlet from the easment. This creates a bathtub effect and leaves a pool of water which sometimes takes weeks to empty.The mossies love it. Am I entitled to charge the motel a fee for the usage of my property in getting rid of their storm water.

Submitted: 13 years ago.Category: Australia Law

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6/8/2010

Solicitor: Peter G., Solicitor replied 13 years ago

Peter G., Solicitor

Category: Australia Law

Satisfied Customers: 767

Experience: Law degree from the University of Melbourne 1978, with thirty years of practice experience.

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Are you saying that the easement is for the benefit only of the motel, and no-one else? Do you have a title search of your property showing in whose favor the easement is?

Customer reply replied 13 years ago

The easment could have been used by others but They drained their stormwater to the street.In the part of the easment that concerns me only the motel and my self have access to it

Solicitor: Peter G., Solicitor replied 13 years ago

My thinking here is that easements for drainage are usually in favour of a water/drainage authority. Do you have your own title that might indicate who controls the easement?

Customer reply replied 13 years ago

The easment is on my land and i carry out all the maintenance which is quite substancial as there are over 200 gum and palm trees growing there. No third party does any maintenance but i suspect the local council would consider it part of the overall system.If the council do claim to control it would they be responsible for the cost keeping it clear of debris.The easment is on my land and i carry out all the maintenance which is quite substancial as there are over 200 gum and palm trees growing there. No third party does any maintenance but i suspect the local council would consider it part of the overall system.If the council do claim to control it would they be responsible for the cost keeping it clear of debris.

Solicitor: Peter G., Solicitor replied 13 years ago

The relevant authority would not normally be responsible for maintenance/keeping clear of debris, because usually it is the responsibility of the land owner to ensure that the easement can be accessed by the authority if work in relation to the easement have to be carried out. But without seeing the title and knowing more about it, it is difficult to say more. So, I suggest you contact the council to ask what your responsibilities are and especially to seeing if any work can be done to rectify what you believe is a fault. If there is gathering water near a drainage easement, then I think the water authority would like to know this.

I think this probably answers your questions, but if there is anything else please come back to me, I am happy to address any further concerns.

Customer reply replied 13 years ago

To get back to origional question, do you think i would be able to charge motel for discharging storm water on my property?

Solicitor: Peter G., Solicitor replied 13 years ago

Not for natural run off, but yes, you could do something if the water was coming onto your property because of some "fault" (for want of a better word) on the neighbour's property. But the water authority might be responsible, or assist with this.

Peter G., Solicitor

Category: Australia Law

Satisfied Customers: 767

Experience: Law degree from the University of Melbourne 1978, with thirty years of practice experience.

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