NSW Power Line Easement Trouble - What to Do?

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Clancy

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6 April 2016
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Hi, we are leasing an industrial warehouse in Sydney NSW that is a shared yard with another unit, plus a high voltage power line easement running through the middle of the yard.

On our lease, it makes no mention of the easement or any restrictions of use. We have a diagram supplied by the landlord showing the outside areas that are ours and that are shared zone. We stored our stock in the area shown as our zone.

After five years Transgrid come along and say we have to move all our stock from our zone that is on the easement!

So i was looking into this issue and apparently there will be a thing called a 'lease of easement' which should outline the permitted usage of the easement.

Now as the tenant we have never seen the lease of easement, so i asked Transgid what the permitted usage their lease of easement states?

His reply was quite surprising to me, he said "the lease of easement is irrelevant". He says the safety regulations he gave me have to be obeyed.

So he gave me a list of contradictory regulations, and when i said this rule contradicts that rule his reply was, "well you need to read this rule in conjunction with this other rule" I have never heard anything more ridiculous, i mean he can basically make up any interpretation he feels like this way, how are we supposed to know what is right and what is just his opinion?

https://www.transgrid.com.au/being-...ent guidelines for third party developers.pdf

Regards
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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You'll need someone to look at the easement itself, and work back to what is required to comply, preferably someone who is a NSW property lawyer.

As part of this, you should also go back to the landlord and complain that you don't get access to the full site - which is relevant to your utility and how much rent you're paying.

The pdf you've linked is for development of the site. It doesn't cover storage of goods. However, I can guess that they're upset about not being able to get unimpeded access.
 

Tripe

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22 May 2017
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Electricity providers have easements over the route of thier infrastructure so they can access the infrastructure obstruction free and to maintain safety to the land owner and electrical infrastructure.

These easements allows them to control what takes place under aerial powelines and above underground cables,

If the electrical company has a list of what can't be done in the easement corridor, then you Need to obey

Easements are recorded on the property's certificate of title.
 

Clancy

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6 April 2016
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You'll need someone to look at the easement itself, and work back to what is required to comply, preferably someone who is a NSW property lawyer.

As part of this, you should also go back to the landlord and complain that you don't get access to the full site - which is relevant to your utility and how much rent you're paying.

The pdf you've linked is for development of the site. It doesn't cover storage of goods. However, I can guess that they're upset about not being able to get unimpeded access.

Thanks for that, although i am not sure what 'unimpeded access' means? In previous years when they wanted to do work with cranes, we temporarily moved all our stock for them, then moved it back again when they finished, no complaint from them at that time.
 

Clancy

Well-Known Member
6 April 2016
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Electricity providers have easements over the route of thier infrastructure so they can access the infrastructure obstruction free and to maintain safety to the land owner and electrical infrastructure.

These easements allows them to control what takes place under aerial powelines and above underground cables,

If the electrical company has a list of what can't be done in the easement corridor, then you Need to obey

Easements are recorded on the property's certificate of title.

Except that according to Transgrid, the lease of easement is 'irrelevant'. So because he said that, i can assume the lease of easement must stipulate particular acceptable activities that he does not agree with. In which case this is a trap for anyone considering taking a lease of easement with an electricity company because what you think you are agreeing to in the lease of easement is in the end 'irrelevant'.
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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With unimpeded access, that generally means that there be nothing in the way if they need to work on the lines in an emergency situation. Say, for example, there's a downed line and the repairmen need to access to your property in the middle of the night. If they can't properly access the area without someone having to do something such as move items out of the road, then that is impeded access.

Think of it like a fire escape. If you put boxes in front of it then you've impeded access.
 

Clancy

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6 April 2016
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With unimpeded access, that generally means that there be nothing in the way if they need to work on the lines in an emergency situation. Say, for example, there's a downed line and the repairmen need to access to your property in the middle of the night. If they can't properly access the area without someone having to do something such as move items out of the road, then that is impeded access.

Think of it like a fire escape. If you put boxes in front of it then you've impeded access.

Well a fire escape is a clear reason for access. It is less clear in our case. Half the area they ordered us to clear are our marked car spaces (marked out by the landlord, and shown on our lease as car spaces). We don' t use those car spaces for cars, so we stored our stock there instead.

Now, according to what you say about 'access', we are perfectly entitled to park cars there, and if in an emergency they need access, and no one is around to move the cars, is it impeding access?
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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16 February 2017
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You may be entitled according to the terms of your lease. Your landlord may not be entitled to let you use that area in accordance with the terms of the easement.

As for impeding access, yes it is impeding access.

As for liability, check to see if there is any statutory requirement (which there may well be). If there is, you're likely to be liable (as well as the landlord). If there isn't, your landlord is likely to be liable. Either way, I'd say on the face of it you're unable to use that area for storage - but you still need to get someone to check the terms of the easement. Don't take the authority's word for it, government authorities have been known to be wrong in the past (but it's unlikely).
 

Clancy

Well-Known Member
6 April 2016
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You may be entitled according to the terms of your lease. Your landlord may not be entitled to let you use that area in accordance with the terms of the easement.

As for impeding access, yes it is impeding access.

As for liability, check to see if there is any statutory requirement (which there may well be). If there is, you're likely to be liable (as well as the landlord). If there isn't, your landlord is likely to be liable. Either way, I'd say on the face of it you're unable to use that area for storage - but you still need to get someone to check the terms of the easement. Don't take the authority's word for it, government authorities have been known to be wrong in the past (but it's unlikely).

Well checking the terms of the easement is what i first thought but Transgid said the lease of easement is irrelevant. Obviously the previous owners agreed to allow the easement to go in based on the lease of easement terms and created the car parking spaces on that basis, but, as i said, according to Transgid, the lease of easement is irrelevant.

So the morel of the story is, and everyone should put the word out, never agree to a lease of easement with an electricity company if the approach you to put one in, because in the end, that lease of easement is irrelevant.
 

Tripe

Well-Known Member
22 May 2017
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The land you rent is burdened with the easement, leasing the land does not remove the burden of the easement on the land.
 
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