Retaining wall and boundary. Can our neighbours make us remove a hedge?

[Kiore]

Hi all

First time poster here.

We have an ongoing dispute with a neighbour, who happens to be a large corporate. Last year they accessed our property and 'hard pruned' one of our hedges without notice or permission. Some of this was exclusively on our property. We went from having a 4m hedge to some stumps.

This then led to concerns over the retaining wall between the two properties which is leaning out. A boundary survey now indicates that they own the wall in entirety. The wall in questions is old and not engineered so would not come close to code.

We've been left with no hedge and no privacy. The corporate now also want to remove a further hedge tree from our property which will make this worse. The tree in question is a good 2m from the end of the wall.

Do they have a right to tell us what we can do on our property? We want to replant a hedge to restore our privacy. We've had a vaguely threatening email suggesting that we are responsible for damage to the wall because of the hedge and a tree that was planted close to it (now removed).

Can anyone suggest a lawyer who specialises in this type of issue? Any help would be much appreciated.

[donna]

Good luck. See the 'Similar Threads' below for more information and discussion on trees etc.

cheers,

Donna

[John the builder]

what part of country are you in?

You may have obligation is respect to the tree (if)damaging the wall but this is unlikely and where is the evidence (engineers report?)

[Kiore]

They do have a report from Opus although it is not a full structural survey. The wall is clearly very old - they suggested from the 70's but we think younger. It's not an engineered wall.

Do we have the right of support for our land? At the moment they are saying we can't do what we want on it.

We're in Auckland.

[artemis]

You have the option to issue a fencing notice so the neighbour shares the cost of a new fence.

Maintenance of retaining walls can be a bit tricky, but there is a general obligation not to jeopardise the other property. Usually that means the property that cut away their land has an obligation to the upper property.

See a lawyer by all means, but there is a lot on the subject on this site, the internet and of course the Fencing Act itself.

[Kiore]

You have the option to issue a fencing notice so the neighbour shares the cost of a new fence.

Maintenance of retaining walls can be a bit tricky, but there is a general obligation not to jeopardise the other property. Usually that means the property that cut away their land has an obligation to the upper property.

See a lawyer by all means, but there is a lot on the subject on this site, the internet and of course the Fencing Act itself.

I've had a look at the fencing act but can't find anything about retaining walls or the right to support.

Can anyone point me towards the legislation.

We're very concerned that removing the tree in question will lead to our land falling or subsiding which in turn would jeopardize our communal driveway.

[Meehole]

If the wall is on a lean and now a boundary survey indicates it is fully on their property, does that mean it was once on the boundary? If so then the responsibility of the parties to whose boundary it is was originally built in?
As far as I am aware a hedge is not classed as a fence. We have just removed over 50m of hedging between us and a neighbour to build a 1.8m high wooden fence. They wanted the straggly hedge to remain and tried to argue that a hedge was acceptable, however it's not.
As far as subsidence, because of the really hot weather we have had this summer there is an abundance of subsidence. Retaining walls, piles, driveways all seem to be shrinking.

[John the builder]

subsidence strictly means ;
Subsidence is the process by which an area of land sinks to a lower level than the land surrounding it, or a building begins to sink into the ground. Under certain circumstances, land subsidence is covered under flood policies. (collins)


shrinkage is natural land movement and expected in clay soils with expansion and shrinkage over seasons.

retaining wall collapse suggests structural support failure or poor design rather than the ground causing the issue?

[Meehole]

subsidence strictly means ;
Subsidence is the process by which an area of land sinks to a lower level than the land surrounding it, or a building begins to sink into the ground. Under certain circumstances, land subsidence is covered under flood policies. (collins)


shrinkage is natural land movement and expected in clay soils with expansion and shrinkage over seasons.

retaining wall collapse suggests structural support failure or poor design rather than the ground causing the issue?

So its not possible for the soil behind a retaining wall to shrink and then cause subsidence of the wall?

[John the builder]

it is the use of the word I question. Subsidence is not at work here?

[Meehole]

it is the use of the word I question. Subsidence is not at work here?

Ok it would probably be more helpful if you could answer Kiores question rather than giving me an english lesson. At least I offered up some advice based on my own experiences of subsidence, shrinking clay, retaining walls falling over and tree hedges on boundaries. You know all about legislation, point him in the direction of something he can use to try and fix his situation.

[John the builder]

quite a good article here;

https://metrolaw.co.nz/retaining-wall-dispute-with-neighbour/

[Kiore]

The wall has always been entirely on their property. The movement which has occurred on the common driveway has happened over many years - their engineering report mentioned it.

We've had another incident with the company contractors 'trimming' one of our trees. He said he knew it was ours and didn't care.

I'm in the process of writing a letter to the company outlining our concerns about our land moving if the tree is removed. And requesting that they build a fence to replace the hedge and trees they have illegally removed or trimmed.

Thanks for the advice all. I would like to upload some photos but can't figure out how!

[John the builder]

was the wall built to support your land as a result of work by the lower neighbor?? the natural contours should show this? If so the lower neighbor has the obligation to maintain support. If reverse (and the wall supports fill) then the obligation might be yours? but not their concern either?

[Kiore]

We think the wall was built by the lower neighbours to support our land. Their land is much lower than ours.

We've had a response to our email which asked for a plan to support our land if we allow them to remove the tree. Their plan is to leave the root in place as support. I'm not happy with this as the root will obviously rot over a number of years. They have no engineering report or anything in writing to suggest this is a viable option.

If the driveway collapses, it will likely be under the weigh of our cars as we reverse to turn around so it is a significant Health and Safety issue.

I'm at a loss as to what to do now. Their report indicates that our driveway has moved due to the lack of support from the retaining wall. Instead of arguing over the hedge, it may be simpler to ask them to sort out the whole wall.