Council Garbage Truck enters my property and damages my newly laid concrete driveway.....

Hi there

I would like to share a matter of property law and downright decency.


So I have a large property somewhere in the east of Melbourne. We recent completed a concrete driveway in one half – that is total length of the driveway is 100 metres and we laid 50 metres.


The garbage bins are collected on a Friday and placed outside my property on the road. Its a one way rd so my property is at the end of the road.


The garbage truck has proceeded to enter my driveway and enter the newly laid concrete driveway and make a turn – the worst turn ever by the way, worse than Austin Powers. The turn is done on one week fresh exposed aggregate concrete. I confront him and in the end help him make the turn.


Legal issues:

1. Garbage truck enters private property
2. 13 tonne concrete truck on fresh concrete – let alone any concrete - on private property
3. Damaged the driveway

So I take the driver details down. I immediately ring the council who say they have no camera on the truck which is rubbish. Lucky I invested in a Swann camera system. I detail the events and provide the footage plus pictures of the damage.


As you can understand I will not drop this, I spent a lot of money on the concrete and its damaged plus will increase the likelihood of further cracking.


Next steps:

1. Waiting to hear back from council
2. Get a quote from the builder to repair/ replace the damaged parts of the driveway
3. May need legal advice if council/ contractor do not respond on a timely basis

So any of you guys had this issue? Please share your thoughts with my rights…..

 

Did you have any signage advising the weight limits of the fresh driveway?

 

Was there some sort of barricade to warn people ?

 

I have a sign saying private property no unauthorised Access. No person should enter private private property - no no signage limits of a fresh driveway.

Cheers Ivan

 

Garbage, no pun intended.......it's the real world, people will turn around if they reasonable have to.

 

@Redwood - In the first instance notify your buildings insurer (or broker) - your broker will guide you from there.

 

The driveway may not be your property. Your property commences at the property boundary. The splay is arguably council property. A bit like the footpath is too. Driveway splays get dug up a lot (eg NBN, gas and even telstra npits and footpaths) and **** off owners and its often rectified...But not always.

Damaged after a week ? Whats the council standard for kerbs ?
Council liable or contractor ? I bet I know what council says.

My councils kerbing rules here file:///C:/Users/paul.gerrard/Downloads/Fact_Sheet_-_Construction_of_Driveways_Gutter_Crossings__Footpaths.pdf

Says no weight for 7 days

 

When I had my Mum's driveway done, I ensured the driveway was blocked off so no cars or trucks could go onto it.

 

footpath - can't do much

Driveway (within your boundary)- just make a claim on the driver's insurance. Get your home insurance to sort it out (or get the builder's insurance to sort it out)

no different to a car that crashed into gate.

 

Should be an easy battle to win. You have concrete evidence

 

@Redwood Ivan, you have mentioned that it's damaged. Can you elaborate more? Did it crack? Chip off a corner? Do you have pics? If he merely 'used' the driveway it will be hard to prove he has done any future damage and even then hard to quantify how much damage as it will be all under the surface. But if he has physically damaged the driveway with obvious visual evidence, then you may have a case if you can prove it was him that did it.

 

Hi guys

To make it clear, the driveway is on my property - its a large driveway so its gravel for 50 metres then down the bottom near the house its concrete - which is the new concrete. Property labelled as private property.

There is visual damage - clearly where the truck had turned. Wiped off all the seal, and stones, they denied it....even though its clear its where the truck had turned. You're right i'm in for a shitfight, the council flogged me to the contractor, who was dismissive. I will need a engineering report.

Scott no mates - believe it or not, my insurance does not cover "impact" to a driveway such as branches etc so this will not be covered.

George - its on camera, I have provided the tape to the council and the operator, pretty funny viewing with him taking 20 mins to get out.

Oh well, its a funny story, that I won't give up on.

Thanks for all your comments

Cheers Ivan

 

So he came 50m+ down the driveway to try and turn around? Maybe submit to funniest home video show and hope to win back the repair bill

I wouldn't give up either.

 

@Redwood - Impact is a strange way of definining use or loading of a slab.

Might need to lawyer up and sue for trespass and vandalism/damage.

 

Its quite funny, for 6 months I have had a water company invading my front yard and this was the last straw (thats why we could only do half the driveway and cannot close the property with a gate). You are right re lawyer up, I spoke to my "work" lawyer and he gave me advice. The council and the contractor are trying to flog me off, I just don't have time to put up with their rubbish. But it is a matter of principal. I'll keep you updated.

Re the comedy, you should have seen him turning the truck - exactly like Austin Powers - each one digging into the concrete.

Cheers Guys

 

I was in a situation years ago when i drove the furniture removal truck down a few days old bitumen driveway for a multi homette block.Hot day,soft bitumen and when we turned left the tyres dug in and caused a lot of damage,same getting out,small tight road,BIG truck means backward/forward repeat..........it wasnt pretty.My insurance covered that,comprehensive truck insurance.

 

I'd actually be slightly concerned about the quality of the concrete. 7 day strength should be around 60-70% of the design strength so around 15MPa. That said, the slab shouldn't be heavily loaded for at least a couple of weeks preferably longer.

 

Lodge building insurance claim with YOUR insurer. They will seek to recover damage from the identified party and their insurer.

 

Sorry about yr driveway!

Generally speaking, the Council will be responsible for their contractors so don't let them fob you off. If you've got film of the incident, that's great. I'd try to escalate through Council (maybe contact your local Councillor if you have one?) and your own home insurer first before engaging a lawyer...

Good luck.

 

Guys

Awesome stuff, usually I crap on about SMSFs but this is personal.

Paul - the Insurer will not cover it (its Woolworths Insurance) - its in their PDS as impact but I can try - I will persist with the council.

The operator has already been dismissive and yes the council did try to fob me off. The council and the operator came to my property and inspected it (without an appointment or permission) and claimed there is no structural damage. Of course their visit was on camera so I could see wiping your feet on my driveway is not a structural test. All the damage is obvious on the toip where the truck has made the turns....

There are other options but it will be on me to obtain the test when its the council that is responsible....after all its trespass....

I'll keep you'all posted with the happenings (when I get time).

Cheers Ivan