NSW Where the bottom of the fence should begin??

[Resq123]

My neighbour has requested a fence, which we clearly need. The top wall is his and the bottom wall is mine. The white peg is the boundary between our blocks. He wants to put a colorbond fence up and originally I asked if it could go on top of his wall but he has refused saying his wall is 30mm inside the boundary. He wants the bottom of the panels to start at the top of his wall and go up from there with the posts to go to ground level where the peg is, which is 1metre. I don’t want to see this from my side of the fence and I would like to see the fence panels began at the ground height, to effectively hide his wall from my side, and given that’s were the boundary ground level is then that’s should be the starting point for the fence. . He refused.
I am of the opinion that the fence panel should begin on ground level and go up as this is where the boundary lies, and given he has chosen to retain his block up 1m (to allow him to build two units on it) the extra cost associated with having the fence reach his desired height above the standard 1.5 high fence should be his cost to bare alone.

He believes that I should be the one to pay the extra because I want it to go down below his finished wall height. Has anyone seen this previously or has advice for me. The NSW SEPP 2008 Refers to the fence height from ground level (existing) which I would deem to the the level of dirt between our two walls where the white peg is.

He also states that by doing it my way it would not comply as the fence height would then be 2.5m high and above the 2.1m from what is allowed. I have argued with him saying that the way he wants thefence is going to be exactly the same finished height also(1.5m above his wall or 2.5m from the ground level at the boundary line) but he fails to comprehend this.

Any help or advice form me????

We are in the process of mediation and we will see what happens there.
Thanks for your time
Clint.

 

[Resq123]

Check my avatar As I tried inserting a photo of our boundary but I can’t. For visual assistance, Our blocks slope down across the block and The neighbour has built a 1m wall 30mm inside the boundary line to allow him to level his block and put two units on it. This was done prior to any works commencing on our block. During my build we had to cut and fill across our block and we have a 1m cut below his wall about 450mm inside our boundary, which we have retained with the standard treated pine and gal post. The boundary line sits between these two walls and the natural ground level at the boundary line itself remains as it was prior to any work being undertaken by either party.

 

[Tripe]

Normally in suburban areas a sufficient fence is a minimum 5ft high ( subject to any local council requirements) and rabbit proof.

You are lucky as the original surface appears to be your boundary line.

IMHO, your contribution would be 50% of a fence built on the natural surface, ie boundary line, if your neighbor wants the fence higher, then he should be liable for 50% of a sufficient 5 ft fence plus the additional contribution to make it higher 5ft.

The centre of a fence is what ever the neighbors agree, it can be the front face of the railing, middle of Pailings or middle of post ( subject to any local council definition)

You don’t want the fence on his retaining wall.

 

[Resq123]

Normally in suburban areas a sufficient fence is a minimum 5ft high ( subject to any local council requirements) and rabbit proof.

You are lucky as the original surface appears to be your boundary line.

IMHO, your contribution would be 50% of a fence built on the natural surface, ie boundary line, if your neighbor wants the fence higher, then he should be liable for 50% of a sufficient 5 ft fence plus the additional contribution to make it higher 5ft.

The centre of a fence is what ever the neighbors agree, it can be the front face of the railing, middle of Pailings or middle of post ( subject to any local council definition)

You don’t want the fence on his retaining wall.

Hi tripe,
Yes we did originally request that it be built on his wall, but they refused because the wall is 30mm inside the boundary, so the fence couldn’t be built on it. They want us to pay the extra cost above the standard fence height as they continue to sprout that the ground height should be taken as their finished retaining wall height and if we want the fence to come down to actual ground level it’s our problem. They are also saying from ground level to the finished fence height would be 2.5m so it exceeds the SEPP 2008 code so a council DA can’t be processed. From my understanding council don’t have the jurisdiction to pass it if it’s above 2.1m and only the courts can.

 

[Tripe]

Above 2.1m normally needs a council planning application.