Body Corporate Dispute on Bringing Heavy Vehicles to Remove a Fallen Tree, Need Advice

LDavid stone on 11/08/2019 - 06:26
Last edited 11/08/2019 - 12:14 by 1 other user

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or advice about the situation which occurred recently.

I live in a townhouse residential area with about 20 other townhouses. Due to strong winds recently, a massive tree on my neighbour's house fell directly on my townhouse. It ended up being in quite a dangerous position as it could have collapsed further at any time so I had no choice but to call my insurance company. They sent out the tree removalists and they assessed the situation first in the morning before coming again in the afternoon to work on it.

Our townhouse complex states that big,heavy vehicles are not allowed in due to possible damage it could cause to the driveway. I had no idea what type of equipment or vehicle the tree removalists would bring, but it ended up that they did indeed brought a big truck in to cut the big tree. After they started to commence work, one of the neighbour's complained about the truck being too big,it will destroy the path etc. The tree removalists explained that it was a dangerous and emergency situation. Obviously, the neighbor and the tree removalists started to argue, she took photos and kept yelling. He ended up calling the police as he said she was preventing them from doing their job. The police came and separated them.

The neighbor said she was on the committee in our residential area and would give me a fine. I explained that it was an emergency and that at the end of the day, it was their equipment and vehicle, not mine. After the job was done, there was no damage to the driveway.

My question is, who is in the right or wrong here? Or is it that both parties have a point? Do you think I have any responsibility in this?

Mod: Title edited for clarity

Poll Options expired

  • 2
    The neighbor was right
  • 66
    The people doing the job were right
  • 4
    Neither were right
Home & Garden

Comments

  • Vancomycin 1000mg on 11/08/2019 - 06:43
    +5

    Clearly not your fault. If they are not happy, they should talk to your insurance company.

  • epkh on 11/08/2019 - 06:45
    +24

    I hope she'll allow firetrucks on the path (unlikely I know) if her house is on fire…

    • AdosHouse on 11/08/2019 - 11:29
      +3

      I hope she doesn't

  • AustriaBargain on 11/08/2019 - 06:47
    +2

    you should have lied to her about the extent of the need for urgency in removing the tree, maybe your lives could have been at risk if it wasn't removed asap. And if she's on the committee maybe it was her job to organise strata to check the trees or whatever, could be she's angry that her own committee made a mistake that cost you your roof.

    • mbck on 11/08/2019 - 14:14

      Nah she's power hungry. She needs to have the final say in everything. If you don't listen to her, that pisses her off.

      This is a tree that fell down. You are speaking to an expert.the expert has given you advice on what to do. But you still did not want to accept it.

      She needs to be kicked out of the committee that's toxic.

      • AustriaBargain on 11/08/2019 - 16:19

        What does OP gain from making this woman an enemy?

        • mbck on 11/08/2019 - 21:10

          You think she won't hold a vendetta on op? If she's not reasonable enough to see the facts, I highly doubt she'll be ok after this incident. Nor can she be relied upon to make good decisions for the committee and owners in the future

  • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2019 - 07:37
    +3

    The tree lopper guy would have insurance for any damage he might cause to property whilst engaged in his business. Complain about the women's behaviour to the moral committee of your gated complex I'm sure yelling at your neighbours would be a violation of the diverse code of ethics you sign up to when choosing to live in such a place :)

  • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2019 - 08:01
    +3

    If she is on a committee dispensing a fine for her personal situation or even threatening it, she won't be on a committee very long. No damages, no problems in my view. Emergency situation, cops attended. It's hot air.

  • Tee Rex Arms on 11/08/2019 - 08:08
    +1

    Police would have loved to attend that urgent non-violent civil matter. Phvcking joke she even rang when there’s DV, burglary’s and other life endangering offences occurring and police are required to attend trash calls for service like this.

  • Davo1111 on 11/08/2019 - 08:18
    +2

    if there was damage, then the tree guys insurance (or yours) would cover it.

    Dont lose a wink of sleep over it.

    • AustriaBargain on 11/08/2019 - 09:46
      +1

      Then when the insurance truck comes to the tree lopper guy to deliver the cheque and damages the tree lopper guys lawn, when does it end?!

  • altomic on 11/08/2019 - 08:21
    +6

    this is problem we all face everyday but everyone is too afraid to discuss it.

    I'm glad someone was brave enough to join ozbargain and post it.

    nice click bait title

    • pegaxs on 11/08/2019 - 09:40
      +1

      New user, click bait title, OP never replies… I think that’s in the SOP for OzB trolls…

  • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2019 - 08:32
    +7

    Remove her from the committee.

    1. She was obstructing workers performing emergency work.

    2. She was using her position on the committee to make personal threats.

    Either one of these actions should be sufficient to remove someone's authority.

  • ihbh on 11/08/2019 - 08:43
    +1

    My question is, who is in the right or wrong here? Or is it that both parties have a point? Do you think I have any responsibility in this?

    My question is: Why gaf unless you get a fine?

    In the meantime, go on with your life. I think you have more pressing concerns.

  • Zonty on 11/08/2019 - 08:58

    What a hopeless neighbour. I live similar units and I got letter from corporation it's not allow for couriers, but not for bin collecting trucks ,emergency or new moving residents.

  • coin saver on 11/08/2019 - 09:37
    +4

    Another new member joining to post a bullshit post. I suspect these clowns are uni students using this site to work on their assignments. It really is time to have a period of time between joining and posting say 1 month.

    • pegaxs on 11/08/2019 - 09:41
      +6

      A minimum comment count and positive vote count before they can post their first forum topic would be nice…

    • mbck on 11/08/2019 - 14:15

      Whatnot you mean on assignment? Like they let's trigger people and see the results"?

  • ode1online on 11/08/2019 - 10:18

    Its difficult being an emergency,
    However if you had contacted the body corporate they should have dealt with It and may have advised the company no big trucks on site prior to a work order being released

  • TheOtherLeft on 11/08/2019 - 10:19

    Just another reason why I love not living in a strata.

    The women needs to relax. As others have said, the arborists insurance should cover any damage.

    Could she quote what's the definition of a "big heavy vehicle"??? How can she complain if she can't compare the so-called committee rules to the actual weight of the truck?

  • Donaldhump on 11/08/2019 - 10:42

    she is on the commitee and will fine you. ROFL, she hasn't got that power. tell her to stop being a busy body

    tell her, if her unit was on fire, would it be appropriate to stop the fire truck on the driveway or would it be acceptable for you to stand there and deny access.

  • AdosHouse on 11/08/2019 - 11:36

    Bloody hell, if I was in the OPs situation, that name for female dog would have been calling the cops on me. 13 years of working in pubs has given me quite a colourful vocabulary.

    She needs to get off her high horse and understand she has no real power. This is all I can imagine her as, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roE8AJiwNC0&list=WL&index=53…

    • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2019 - 12:20

      Or a real life case - Caren Turner

      I'd be pursuing for the same results. Dismissal and public apology (in your case, an apology made known to all members of your body corp).

      • AdosHouse on 11/08/2019 - 12:50

        Oh hell no, taser would definitely be deployed straight into her stupid face.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2019 - 15:02

          I think the cops handled her perfectly.

  • HighAndDry on 11/08/2019 - 12:01
    +1

    I'm sorry to break it to you, but your neighbour's an ass. If the fine eventuates, fight it because of emergency necessity.

  • chrisd262 on 11/08/2019 - 12:14

    This is a good reason to first call the SES. They will take care of it

    • AdosHouse on 11/08/2019 - 12:52
      +1

      Definitely not. Call the insurance company and follow their directions to the letter so that they have no reason to lower or not pay the repair figure for the house.

  • brad1-8tsi on 12/08/2019 - 10:37

    Our townhouse complex states that big,heavy vehicles are not allowed in due to possible damage it could cause to the driveway.

    This isn't a proper rule as the size is subjective. They need to state what tonnage over how many axles. eg: one of the bridges I manage is 15 tonne over 2 axles or 20tonne 3+ axles.

    What do they do when a removal truck comes in? You are looking at ~6 tonne laden over 3 axles for a large removalist van.

    PS: Your insurance company should be liaising with your strata manager.

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