NSW Unapproved Access to Property - Liable if Issue is Not Addressed?

[AussieTraveler]

Hi there,

I run a large business in NSW. Recently, it's come to light that one of our neighbours has cut a hole in the fence and handmade a hatch-like gate in the fence. The person is then climbing between the gate and the hedges into an opening where the hedge stops, which steps out directly onto our drive-thru which has a lot of vehicles.

It's a huge safety risk as cars can not see that someone is there until they step out.

My question is: what can we do about this under property law? Are we liable if we don't rectify this issue and someone is harmed?

Thank you and best regards.

 

[Tripe]

I take it, the fence is on your boundary line and is a common fence , then no changes can be made to a fence without agreement from you. In general you own 50% and
The other party owns 50%, neither party has a majority share, so you can't override the other party.

You both need to agree !!!

Call the cops and get them charged for damaging your property ie, cutting a hole in the fence without your permsion.

Or the other option would be to instal a new fence, say 0.5m inside your property, then you will own 100% of it and the other party can't touch it.

 

[Tripe]

Should of mentioned, you are also legally entitled to have your fence repaired back to original condition if they damaged/changed it without your permission.

 

[Rod]

You do accept some liability in negligence if you know the fence is damaged, and climbing through it is hazardous and you do nothing.