Vicland Surveying currently has a casual position available for a town planner / survey drafter within our progressive team.
Subdivision experience within local council and a working knowledge of the Victorian Planning Scheme would be an advantage.
Knowledge of Autocad and Liscad software packages is also an advantage.
If you believe you are well suited to the above role please submit your application via our careers page. A competitive salary will be negotiated with the successful candidate.
Boundary Fences
No, it’s not the Tom Cruise movie, but real life happenings between neighbours. As surveyors, we see this sort of ‘war’ all the time. Let me explain.
A phone call comes in for a quote for a title re-establishment survey. Go ahead is given and boundaries are marked. However, one side fence is over a title boundary into the property by 150mm. To complicate matters, along this boundary a unit’s garage wall is to be built.
What happens next?
Two months later construction has begun and the fence that’s 150mm out has been pulled down and a new concrete slab has been poured to the original title boundary position.
Result: – War of the worlds.
Fortunately or unfortunately (which way you view it) there are certain pieces of legislation which apply in circumstances such as this.
The idea of possessory rights stems from Common Law Principles from Old English Law.
Certain law statutes exist in the Victorian Legal system which protect the rights of those who may have acquired possessory rights to land which they occupy i.e. have fenced within their property.
The statute applicable is the ‘Limitations of Actions Act 1958’ which determines the time, currently 15 years, from which ‘possessory’ rights have begun. The Act also acknowledges that title to the land being adversely possessed has been extinguished at the end of the 15 year period if any person, namely the owner, has not brought about any action to recover the land. Extinguished in this case effectively means ‘you have lost that part of the land’ to which you had title to. This is further acknowledged in the Transfer of Land Act 1958 under section 42 (2) (b) which provides that for any title of the Register, it “shall be subject to any rights subsisting under any adverse possession of the land”.
Getting back to the war at hand, I can only see 1 practical solution for the owner/developer that has been dispossessed regarding re-asserting your title:-
NEGOTIATE – Approach your neighbour, inform them of the situation and see whether they have a problem with re-instatement of the fence to the ‘correct’ title position. Some form of financial consideration might also be offered as compensation for the loss they are about to incur to encourage them to agree.
Under the current system in the situation described above, the neighbour is in the ‘box seat’ and every effort to acknowledge their rights must be made. Of course challenges as to whether the right has been gained can be made in a court of law, but can be both costly and time consuming. One can only wish for cool heads to prevail and a rational outcome for both parties to be reached before any bloodletting begins. A new hope……..let us pray.
John Podolzak
VICLand Surveying
Hello and welcome to VICland Surveying P/L. Current directors Ray Mawson and John Podolzak are very pleased to announce the establishment of VICLand Surveying, formerly known and operating as Kearney & Tyrrell Surveying P/L. Former director Peter Tyrrell still remains on staff as a fulltime consultant.
To all our loyal and valued clients, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support as we look forwards to assisting you in matters of surveying and subdivision for upcoming projects. As always, our goal is to continue to offer a knowledgeable, caring and professional service.
To those of you who have not yet experienced our service, we urge you to consider VICLand Surveying for your next project.
On a lighter note, management would like to take this opportunity to congratulate long term employee and surveyor Mark Aquilina on his recent marriage to Carolyn Stephens. We extend our best wishes to you both for a happy life together.
Secondly, we welcome back Cathy Fastuca from the wilderness. Cathy had previously been an employee of Kearney & Tyrrell Spatial for some 5 years, and returns after a 5 year term with another surveying firm. Cathy brings back with her expertise in subdivision town planning.
Again, we welcome you to VICLand Surveying P/L, where we are committed to providing you with excellent service. We hope you enjoy our new website and hope you return soon. We look forward to your feedback on your experience with us via the feedback questionnaire on the website. We aim to regularly post articles that we believe will assist you in understanding processes to achieving your desired outcomes. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to your valued business in the very near future.