You should contact the municipality to determine the nearest connection point for your stormwater or for other advice on a future drainage plan. All sections of pipe within an open drain or under private entrances or vehicle intersections, including the vehicle entrance or intersection itself, are the responsibility of the owner. Under the Local Government Act, the council may at any time require mandatory maintenance and/or replacement of such sections of pipe if they result in a restriction of the flow of water into the open channel or do not meet the council`s minimum standards. If your neighbour`s downspouts or gutters are damaged or missing (unblocked), or if your neighbour has failed to connect the overflow from a rainwater tank to their underground rainwater system, you can report this problem to the municipality`s building services team and a construction order for minor work can be issued. A legal disposal point is when private drainage is directed from a parcel of land to the municipality`s drainage infrastructure. To connect to the community`s drainage system, the following steps are required: The sewer system that carries water from your laundry, kitchen, bathroom and toilet to a main sewer is not municipal infrastructure. Enquiries should be directed to North East Water. The Dial Before You Dig referral service provides a one-stop shop to request information about infrastructure networks at the planned excavation site, whether commercial or residential. If your neighbour has recently completed landscaping or installed new paved or concrete areas that have been diverted or allowed water to drain onto your property, this is a civil matter. Council cannot control how the landscapes or properties in your neighbourhood are paved because these activities do not require a permit or permit from the council. You should first try to discuss the issue with your neighbor to find a mutually beneficial solution. If that doesn`t work, you can contact the dispute resolution centre for a non-legal mediation service or take legal action through a lawyer. Liability arising from the flow of water is a criminal offence under section 16 of the Water Act.
Individual builders are responsible for managing rainwater on a construction site during construction. Builders should take temporary measures to prevent surface water from flooding other properties if a building under construction temporarily has a roof without gutters or downspouts. If the builder has not taken appropriate measures to prevent flooding, you must take your own legal action. Are you building a second apartment on your property and would like to apply for an additional legal redundancy position? The Council has no legislative authority to enforce the discharge of rainwater between private properties. The board also owns and maintains certain water quality treatments such as raw pollutant traps, lakes, wetlands and public rain gardens. The goal is to remove garbage and pollutants before rainwater enters natural waters. However, some of these treatments are owned and operated by Melbourne Water. A “legal point of disposal” of the property must be obtained from council before a building permit is granted for work involving a drainage system. The responsible expert shall ensure that the design of the internal drainage system complies with the recommendations of this permit and that the drainage is connected to the specified discharge point. Stormwater runoff issues on land between neighboring properties are usually a civil matter that needs to be resolved between the respective owners.
The Council does not have the legislative power to intervene. The type of measures you need to take depends on the cause of the rainwater. The council recommends first trying to talk to your neighbor or even write a note to make them aware of the problem. You can see that this leads to a quicker and more amicable solution to the drainage problem, without the intervention of the Council. All drainage infrastructure related to the drainage of private land to the legal place of disposal is the responsibility of the owner. These include sections of pipe in the natural strip or road reserve that drain rainwater into the curb or pipe fittings (cones) into a municipal drain. All owners are required by law to collect, collect and dispose of rainwater from all hard surfaces through underground pipes to the legal discharge body designated by the council, so as not to disturb adjacent owners. A downstream landowner cannot erect a type of barrier that interferes with the stormwater pathway unless it is anticipated that the flow will be discharged into an approved drainage system. If you are downstream, you will have to endure the “natural” runoff on your property. Each owner is responsible for directing the water on their property to the legal discharge point designated by them. If you are concerned that an inappropriate amount of rainwater is draining onto your property from neighbouring properties, discuss this directly with your neighbour first. If so, please email your stormwater management plan to contactus@hume.vic.gov.au – Att: Sustainable Environment Department and provide your planning permit number, deemed compliant report, STORM report or MUSIC report.