A Mosgiel man who has already lost his fence to a neighbouring subdivision, and will soon say goodbye to part of his garden, fears other residents could face the same predicament.
Andy Bain (71) found out last week he would have to hand over a 1m-wide strip of land on the edge of his property at 8 Montrose St.
The land was claimed by Leisuretime Eco Homes, which planned to develop three townhouses on land between Berwick and Montrose Sts.
The company had surveyed its site and found the boundaries were wrong, allowing neighbours to encroach on its land by up to 2m, company manager Wayne Hanley said.
Mr Bain told the Otago Daily Times he accepted the boundaries were wrong, and his garden and fence had to go, but worried the issue could be repeated in other parts of Mosgiel.
The problem of inaccurate boundaries, especially for older properties, would be identified as they were sold and redeveloped, he said.
''If this goes on in Mosgiel all the time now, as I said, there's going to be a lot of [annoyed] people.
''I think the people of Mosgiel should know what the hell's going on.''
Mr Bain, a retired dairy farmer, bought the 1100sq m home and section about 13 years ago.
He was approached by the developers last Monday and his boundary fence was removed - with his consent - just 12 hours later.
That left him with a share of the cost of a new fence, expected to be about $1600, as well as the time taken to arrange for his glasshouse to be moved, Mr Bain said.
He would also have to remove one side of his woodshed, to bring the building inside his boundary.
A strip of garden would also be lost.
Mr Hanley, contacted this week, sympathised with Mr Bain's predicament but said the law was ''pretty clear'' about the need to establish boundaries when buying a property.
''I'm sad for [Mr Bain] too, but the reality is whoever built his fences originally didn't bother finding out where the boundaries were."
The company could have revised its plans, but at the expense of preparing fresh plans for the Dunedin City Council, and neighbours would have had to buy the strips of land, Mr Hanley said.
''If it's only 100mm or 200mm, you're probably not going to worry about it. But when you're getting up to 1m ... that land is quite valuable.
''You can't really afford to just give away strips a metre wide.''
It was a case of ''buyer beware'' and prospective purchasers should consider having properties surveyed, he believed.
He agreed similar problems were likely to emerge in Mosgiel and around the city as older properties were developed.
''Maybe it's not stupid to have the surveyor come in and find out where the boundaries really are.''
