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good morning/afternoon everyone.
I’m from Western Australia and I moved into a strata property about 2 weeks ago (10 standalone townhouses)
I noticed that one of the down pipes was not doing its job so i started to investigate. I came across an extremely invasive root system. I tracked the root system back to a very large bottle brush tree located on the common area of the complex. (root system was about 13meters long) The root system has grown under and into the footings of my garden brick walls and forced 2 sides to become damaged (leaning/unsecure bricks and mortar) it has also lifted and dropped a large amount of the pavers in my front courtyard. It appears temporary repairs have been made on the walls prior to my purchasing the property. temp repairs in the form of supporting poles and brackets but they have started to fail.
I was wondering if any body knows if the strata are liable for the damages, repair costs and removal of the root system/tree? i have videos proving the damage and tracking of the root system.
thank you for your help.
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If it’s the walls of the building that are affected, then it’s the responsibility of the strata.
The drainage pipes are the responsibility if the strata and they need to maintain them in good order.
As for the garden brick walls, if they are in your lot the damage and repair may be payable by the strata. There was a case through the courts in nsw where bamboo grew into neighbours yard and caused damage. The court determined the owner of the bamboo was responsible for the repair.
It may be worth asking your neighbours if they’re also affected by the invasive roots. It’s often easier to get something done if there are at least a few people demanding that it be done.