How to approach neighbors to get storm water easement

Forget the mumbo jumbo just put a pipe in the ground! There's bucket loads of pipes that aren't in easements, there has to be an easier way dam it

 

To make sure the storm water does not go through back neighbour's backyard, a simple pipe should do it.
But the council wants to regularise/control it and I am sure that I cannot get away with a simple pipe.

 

@htopg Council will no doubt place a condition in the DA consent conditions. they or the certifier will want to see a registered easement on title or the provision created upon lodgement of the subdivision plan.
Council will not sign the subdivision panel on the Administration sheet of the Subdivision Plan if these conditions have not been met.
they may even ask for a letter from the surveyor to state that all drainage infrastructure is contained within the easement together with a 'work as executed' plan showing everything has been built in accordance with the hydraulic design.

 

I am talking to the back neighbour tonight.
What do I need to bring?
Do I need to bring any legal document for him to sign?
Or is it too early to have legal document involved?
Or is a consent letter enough?

I am going to bring up the topic like this:

"I am your back neighbour.
I am going to subdivide and build a house at the back.
After building the house, there might not be enough lawn to absorb rain water.
The excess rain water might run into your backyard.
To prevent this from happening, I am going to build a storm water pipe system along your eastern boundary fence.
With the storm water pipe system in place, you are able to use it should you want to put a granny flat at the back in the future."

(once neighbour agrees to it, hand over a consent letter for him to sign)

"Here is the consent letter, please sign it"

Is there anything I missed?

Thanks

 

It's funny that most council's have no idea about their own storm water pipes though!

Your plan sounds good. Just remember play dum and that the pipe will also be to help them out so they don't flood. ..or even potentially down, you're a hero in the making

 

hehe if only...

 

That would be the perfect scenario. Personally, I just wouldn't put too much pressure on them first meeting. I would have a letter of consent (which council at a minimum will want to see when you submit your DA) in my back pocket just in case the guy is " yeah no problem all good" (miracle scenario but does happen) then you can bring it out. Otherwise if they seem cautious and need time to process it, brining out the letter would most likely have a negative effect imo. So play it by ear and see how they react to the whole thing before asking them to sign anything.

Good luck. You'll need it.

 

@Leo2413 Do you have any sample letter of consent (for easement) to share?
Where can I find one?

 

You can use this as a starting point, then add, minus, make less formal or whatever to make it fit want you want.

I would ask council first what kind of Letter of Consent they would need for the DA.

 

Frankly, I think asking someone to sign a legal document when you present for the first time one evening sounds like bullying.

I would have hated someone to do that to my elderly mum and dad.
They did give consent to a neighbour's development, mainly because they were treated with consideration and courtesy at all times, and actually encouraged to discuss options with the family. A few minor adjustments were agreed to and everyone was happy.

Give the neighbour all the info, then leave the document with him/her to think it through.
Marg

 

I agree and I think this is probably the best approach overall.

 

Or you can tie the letter to a brick and then straight through the front window. But that's more of the forced entry option. Keep that one up your sleeve

 

I'd be approaching it more along the lines of you doing them a favour: "I'm concerned about water runoff onto your property - would you like for me to take care of water routing?"

cheers,
Inertia

 

The neighbour raised the following 3 points during the discussion:
1. the easement will benefit his future development (probably in 10 years time)
2. who is going to responsible for maintenance/repair of the pipe in the future
3. the compensation

He will get back to me in a week with his compensation figure.

@Leo2413 based on those, what compensation figure will you be happy to offer?

 

Point 1 is a plus for you obviously. Point 2 I would say will be you. And most importantly point 3 the figure, I can't tell you. If it were me I would look at the feasibility and then work out a dollar figure that is not a deal breaker, then try to pay as little of that as possible during negotiations. I would also reiterate how the easment will help him when he wants to develop as he has already pointed out. Good luck.

 

Hello all, this is my first ever post on this forum. After discussing a similar issue with a friend of mine and member of this forum, he suggested I create a profile on Property Chat and start researching.
@htopg - I hope this works in your favour as I find myself in a very similar situation and I know how exasperating the process may get. In my case, I have approached two of my rear neighbours requesting an easement and both declined very quickly. I think the language barrier was my biggest setback (both speak English as a second language). I am hopeful however, I need to come back to them with a reasonable offer of compensation...I may be able to sway one of them.
@Leo2413 - Thank you for uploading the letter examples... Big help for anyone considering approaching their neighbours for such matters.

 

I have approached the back neighbour and they have agreed with the following condition:
1. 25k compensation
2. I bear the construction cost (20m + 50m = 70m), future maintenance cost, their survey cost, their revaluation cost, their title change (registration of the easement?) cost

1 Back Neighbour by htopg posted 15th Jun, 2016 at 11:22 AM

Alternatively, I found a council drainage 2~3 properties away.

3 Side Neighbours by htopg posted 15th Jun, 2016 at 11:22 AM

I am going to explore this option.
1. 20m+20mx3=80m
2. 3 neighbours to talk to (not sure about the compensation at the moment)
3. probably 3 times the survey cost/revaluation cost/title change cost

 

@AceBuild and @htopg are either of you able to tell me how things worked out for you?
I'm at the start of the same process.
I need to go through my neighbour as well as the person that backs onto him, to the street behind us.
My neighbour has immediately agreed and wants to piggy back it for his own stormwater which is great.
But the ones behind him speak very little english so when I went to introduce myself and speak to them they agreed in theory, but I feel like a bit of a stalker trying to get any further, since they don't do text/phone (due to the language barrier) and I'm stuck appearing at their house every few days to see if they have had a chance to speak to an English speaking relative to get a better understanding.

I've explained I pay for everything, but I haven't yet mentioned compensation and I'm not sure how to raise this without sounding like I'm trying something dodgy!

I've love to know how you both went and also how long the process took from start to finish?

We were planning to have permission in the next week for demolition of the old house immediately after, but the stormwater issue has now been raised and put everything completely on hold.

 

I requested permission in writing. I needed two of the back neighbours to consent. My diagonal neighbour said yes quite quickly but the one behind me said no. Eventually after 7 months he said yes. It wasn't a fun 7 months and I will never buy a back sloping block again.

I was initially advised that I could do a pump or a charged line but council knocked both on the head down the track.

 

Could you tell me what was involved in getting them to agree over the course of that 7 months?