Resident property encroachment onto public open space land英文资料.pdfVIP

Draft 09/09/03 Resident property encroachment onto public open space land along Merri Creek The issue The increasing backyard encroachment by residents adjoining Merri Creek parkland, and the threat this poses to the recreational/environmental value and management of this public open space. The problems with backyard encroachment: Public safety / liability / legal impacts • Public safety concerns eg with unsafe fencing/construction work on public land. • The possible loss of public land through Adverse Possession (a legal claim that a resident can make when public land has been privately used without contention for a period of fifteen years). If however, efforts have been made to contend this land encroachment, it becomes more difficult for the resident to argue in court. Implementing an action plan (written documentation of communication with residents, regarding their encroachment) could prevent Adverse Possession. • Setting a precedent for further encroachment with extensions to existing encroachment (eg vehicle access), and setting an example to other residents backing onto the creek parklands. Recreational impacts • The loss of public land to private use, restricting public use and access to park areas for recreational or maintenance purposes. Environmental impacts • The planting of environmental weeds and/or weeds classified by the Dept of Natural Resources and Environment, within the extended garden encroachments, and the threat this poses to adjacent areas of native vegetation (eg Opuntia). • The side effects of property encroachments, including dumping of rubbish and garden clippings closer to native vegetation sites. This rubbish dumping is a financial expense for parkland management in removal costs and the spread of weeds into indigenous vegetation areas. • Implications for long ter