Hi all,
Firstly, wishing everyone a very Happy Easter.
My partner and I are currently subdividing a block of land into 2 x 800m2 blocks. The original block is approximate 18 metres wide by 90 m long, with road frontage at both ends. The block slopes gently from front to back.
Our local water authority has said that due to the fall of the land, the storm water from the higher block must run through the back block via an easement down one side. Which all seems quite reasonable, however our surveyor said the easement needs to be 3 metres wide. As the blocks are reasonably narrow, I can see the reduction of the available building envelope by such a huge amount to potentially have quite a negative impact on the final $ value and desirability (and hence saleability) of the block.
My question for those of you experienced in subdividing is this – does a 3 metre wide easement seem excessive? And if so, what is the best way to tackle having the size of the easement reduced? Is it simply a matter of saying this to our surveyor?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Yes that seems excessive.
You need to speak to someone experienced in your area. Subdivision guidelines and standards can be local based on state requirements, state based etc.
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What area are you in? That's quite wide. Ask the surveyor, but also look for yourself at the Council's website – it may contain a document called something like Subdivision Guidelines, Development Engineering Standards, etc etc.
What are the side setback requirements for building in the area?
Can you run the easement down the length of a driveway, in which case it won't impact you?
18m is a decent width and you will still have a large 800 sqm block to work with. Unless they are building a mansion, it shouldn't be an issue. Plenty of building plans will fit on ~15m width.
Hi guys, thanks for the feedback. I will check with my surveyor as to why its so wide. I've checked the council website (rural city of Wangaratta) but can't seem to find anything helpful, so will need to go back to the source.
Good suggestion to go down driveway side – that might help a lot.
Hi there, i had a similiar problem that stalled construction on one of my blocks. How ever if it is an issue for an easement to be placed on your property or council wont allow pumps and pits then there is an alternative which involves tapping into your neighbours to have it run out to the street behind yours.
You can speak to your neighbour and see if you can get conscent, you will obviously have to pay for all associated costs involved. If he refuses like my neighbour did then you can take it to the land and building courts and put an application where they will approval and grant this to be done.
I didnt know about this and i was going to give up untill a developer told me what to do, it is very common practice to do this and is normal as it happens day in and day out. i think it cost me about 6K to submit and approve the order which is pretty straight forward.
Hope this helps you
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