It was a one hundred year old boundary problem, with neighbours over $200,000 apart in agreement over the remedy; Wellington Lyall Bay residents Adam Collins and Jodi Turton arguing substantial compensation was needed from neighbour Shashil Winspear to make good the fact his house overhung their common boundary.
The District Court ordered a Property Law Act boundary adjustment for the ‘wrongly placed structure’ with Mr Winspear to pay $14,000 compensation on gaining title to the affected seven square metres of neighbouring land and pay re-surveying costs.
The misplaced boundary followed sloppy surveying work on Queens Drive in 1921.
Houses were built on what is now numbers 266 and 268 before the land was later surveyed and divided into two separate lots.
A small part of the house at number 266, now owned by Mr Winspear, was included in the surveyed lot for number 268.
The legal nicety is that part of Mr Winspear’s house and the land under it came to be owned by his neighbour; a complication should either choose to sell.
The District Court was told buyers of the respective properties over the years were aware of the boundary issue. Despite suggestions by various of these former owners that the position should be regularised, nothing was ever done.
It had not been a practical issue; that is, until objection was taken to Mr Winspear’s attempts to carry out maintenance on exterior of his house.
Lawyers became involved.
He was served with a trespass notice.
It was alleged that Mr Collins and Ms Turton lied about not being aware of the boundary encroachment when they purchased number 268, as they demanded Mr Winspear surrender a large portion of his property in return for a transfer of the affected seven square metres.
In court, Mr Winspear argued his property rights were protected by an implied easement; for decades the then neighbours had accepted existence of the encroachment. No compensation was required, he claimed.
Judge Warburton ruled the history of incomplete negotiations between past neighbours signalled no such implied consent had been given; the problem had just been left for someone else to deal with.
Current neighbours were poles apart in their assessment of compensation to be paid in return for a boundary adjustment.
Mr Winspear offered $7000. Mr Collins and Ms Turton said a better figure was $228,000; which included twenty per cent of the cost Mr Winspear would have to pay if forced to relocate his house.
Judge Warburton ordered payment of $14,000: the current value assessed by a valuer for 7.3 square metres of residential land in Lyall Bay.
Collins v. Winspear – District Court (11.05.26)
26.158