QLD Visitor Parking in an Easement

[WhitsundayLife]

Our Body Corporate has an easement burdening our land to provide access and visitor parking to the adjacent apartment building. The easement entitles them to access and “bona fide short term casual visitor parking”. There is no overarching Principal Body Corporate the two buildings are independent apart from the easement.

We have an issue with the small amount of visitor parking that is in the easement and trying to enforce that it is short term.

When people offending are visitors or owners of the adjacent building what are the relevant rights for our Body Corporate. The parking is on our land/easement not their common area. I don’t believe we can take them through any Body Corporate adjudication process as they aren’t part of our Body Corporate and they aren’t parking on land that is part of their CTS.

So would this be a Easement/Property Law issue (rather than Body Corporate) and if so what rights do you have to remove (tow) offenders from your easement assuming its signed and warnings are given.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

If that's the wording in the easement, it's a poorly drafted easement. There's a reason legal documents are prescriptive, to stop arguments arising in these situations.

The short answer is, it's not really your problem. The other body corporate has the right of use of the land, and it's up to them as to how they treat the issue. If the argument is not so much the actual use as the DEGREE of the use, then you'll have a hard time pursuing the issue. And by that I mean: if they were using it for a purpose other than parking it would be one thing, but they are using it for parking and the argument appears to be over what is 'short term'.

And you're right, the Body Corporate Adjudicator won't be able to help you. Any action will need to be your Body Corporate against theirs.

 

[WhitsundayLife]

I suspected that was the case. The other body corporate actually signed a towing agreement with a tow company and put up towing signs. But I doubt that's valid as its our physical land and they just have the easement rights. If someone was towed and wanted to fight it (which seems very topical of late) it would be civil courts I assume as its not a Body Corporate issue but I am not sure that Body Corporate could issue a towing instruction for someone on our physical land.

 

[Rod]

They probably can as they are enforcing their easement right which is recognised by law.

 

[Tripe]

The key words are "short term parking".

If anyone uses your land for anything
Else but short term parking then you would have a case to move any offending car(s) on.

Write to the body corporate for a definition of short term parking. In my thinking, short term parking may be 15-20 minutes just enough time to unload groceries etc. I wouldn't think it would be all day parking.

Then again, short term parking at an airport is normally 7 days or less!!!