Homeowner must pay for footpath repair

A Green Island man is looking for a break as his property rolls away from him.

Rhys Williams wants to build a retaining wall at his Kirkland St house as his fences bow and the land rises and falls.

But he got the shock of his life when he received the results of a survey to work out his property boundary.

The land at the front of his house has moved about 2m past the original boundary while his back boundary is in the neighbour’s garden.

The moving land had forced him to look at building a better retaining wall.

It also meant that much of the land on the front of his property was actually council land. Some of the front of his property, including the rock fence, had been built on council land by a previous owner.

‘‘People have told me there used to be a water tower up the top behind us and they knocked it down years ago. But it has led to water still trickling down and that is getting into our properties,’’ Mr Williams said.

Water spills on to the footpath at the front of his house, even when it has been dry for days.

When he moved in 10 years ago, the front rock wall was straight and his lawn was flat and even.

Now, the fence is bowed, the wall is uneven and the lawn is as bumpy as a 1970s football pitch.

He used to have a large hedge at the front of his property but got rid of it a couple of years ago.

‘‘It was getting too big, going over the footpath, touching the power lines and was dangerous.’’

He said he was willing to build the retaining wall according to the survey.

But it upset him that he would be liable for repairs to the footpath.

‘‘I thought it would be 50:50 on the footpath. Half and half. But they [Dunedin City Council] say no. It doesn’t seem fair to me.

‘‘I’m going to have to pay for something that is not even on my property.’’

A council spokesman said while it sympathised with Mr Williams’ situation, land instability was a private matter and not something the council could assist with.

‘‘The retaining wall is privately owned and was constructed on council land by a previous property owner, and our policy in such circumstances is clear — when private alterations are being made that affect public road reserve, the costs involved sit with the private landowner, not ratepayers.’’