#19960
Sir Humphrey
Strataguru

    Who holds the title to the easement and what is the stated purpose and conditions of the easement?

    For example, within our common property we have some easements through which the local utilities provider has some pipes. If something goes wrong with the pipes it is their problem to fix. In the case here it seems the purpose of the easement is to have a footpath (like a pipe for members of the public). So, I would guess that the local council has title to the easement and responsibility to maintain the path. However, I would also guess there are conditions around the easement. In our case we cannot do anything on the easement that would interfere with the pipes or prevent access to them if they need repair. Consequently there are certain structures we could build on that bit of our common property but not other structures. Among the things we could build, it is our responsibility to maintain them because they have nothing to do with the purpose of the easement. 

    It might be that it is your trees that are doing damage to the councils path and so you might be responsible to remove them. On the other hand, if the councils says you can not remove them, then the council will just have to repair the path and maintain it in spite of the trees.