Latest news with #neighbourfeud
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Millionaires' war escalates after homeowner complains about size of his neighbours' boat
A Gold Coast man has lost a bid to join a tribunal case against his neighbours over the size of their boat and pontoon years into a bitter feud. Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal senior member Danielle Brown handed down the decision in April, which was published online on Wednesday. Maxwell Leslie, who owns a home in the luxury gated community Sanctuary Cove, was unsuccessful in his application to join proceedings against his neighbours. The body corporate of the gated community on Hope Island initiated the proceedings against Robert and Janice Buttner, based on complaints raised by Mr Leslie. They concerned the construction of a new pontoon, a boat Me Leslie claimed was larger than agreed upon and a ground floor window he said obstructed his privacy. Mr Leslie sought to be joined as a party to the proceedings given, arguing that he had brought the complaint to the body corporate in the first place. In refusing his application, Ms Brown decided Mr Leslie's addition would broaden the scope of disputed issues, given his fraught relationship with the Buttners. The Buttners, who founded the Australian Security Company, purchased their four bedroom, five bathroom mansion for $3.1m in December 2020, the Courier Mail reported. Mr Leslie purchased his adjoining property for $2.875m 11 years earlier. The relationship between Mr Leslie and the Buttners soured after he sought unsuccessfully to halt their plans to raise the level of their rear terrace in 2022. Ms Brown accepted Mr Leslie had acted 'unreasonably' in the earlier proceedings and believed he would attempt to 'relitigate' those issues in the present proceedings. In reaching her decision, she cited claims by the body corporate that the relationship between the Buttners and Mr Leslie was antagonistic. 'The applicant says there is a long history of antagonism between the respondents and Mr Leslie,' Ms Brown wrote. 'Again, this tends to suggest that, aside [from] the terrace works, the issues in dispute between the respondents and Mr Leslie are not confined to those issues the subject of the present proceedings.' Mr Leslie argued he ought to be added as a party, arguing that he was a 'driving force' behind the body corporate's decision to initiate the proceedings. He also argued his addition would not add to the complexity of the proceedings and would prevent the need to commence separate proceedings against the Buttners. The couple argued there was no reason for Mr Leslie to join the proceedings, given he may still appear as a witness. They also argued the pontoon did not affect Mr Leslie's interest in his property given it was far away enough from his property. Also that Mr Leslie had obscured his view of the disputed window by erecting a screen on the border between the properties. Ms Brown accepted the proceedings would become unnecessarily 'prolonged and disputative' should Mr Leslie be joined, increasing its costs and duration. Ms Brown also suggested the interests of the body corporate and Mr Leslie were not necessarily aligned. 'The joiner of Mr Leslie will, perhaps considerably, expand the scope of the issues in dispute in the proceeding with the results to which I have referred,' she wrote. 'Added to this are the adverse findings made by Cooper J regarding Mr Leslie's conduct and the less than amicable relationship between Mr Leslie and the respondents which it seems to me are likely to impact upon the conduct of the proceeding if Mr Leslie is joined as an applicant.' Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr Leslie and the Buttners for comment. Sanctuary Cove is a sought after postcode, which boasts an Intercontinental Hotel, a golf course, marina, a shopping centre and a range of dining and entertainment venues.
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Warring neighbours spend ten years feuding over a tree that blocks the sun out of one's garden... So, who do YOU think is in the right?
A pair of neighbours are embroiled in a ten year feud because a tree in one's garden is blocking the sun out of the others. With sunnier days fast approaching, most UK citizens are looking forward to enjoying some much-appreciated vitamin D. However, for one unlucky Briton, the prospect of sunbathing in their garden is looking slim due to their neighbour's tree preventing sunlight from entering their garden at certain points of the day. An anonymous UK-based TikTok user has created a profile on the platform under @shadyneighbourtree to reveal the dilemma, which has been ongoing for the past ten years. 'My neighbour's tree doing its best to keep my garden a secret,' the user wrote, adding, 'We need some sun!' Initially, the video attracted countless comments telling viewers to ask the neighbour to trim the tree. However, they explained that their attempts to request the change have gone unsuccessfully. 'Yes, I have asked my neighbour to trim the tree (not chop it down). [I] just want to soak up some sun like they do in their shadeless garden,' they wrote. Another viewer pointed out that the shade moves throughout the day, but the frustrated TikTok user explained, 'This is very true... but its shade when I get home from work and [I] want to enjoy the sun'. The dilemma divided viewers in the comment section, with many conflicted over the best course of action. One wrote, 'Roots may go under the fence, move some dirt, drill hole, pour in stuff trees don't like, fill for a friend, just saying.' Another with a similar perspective joked, 'I'd be paying someone with no name cash in hand'. A third added, 'Garden trees should be kept at a certain height even just for safety. What if it fell in a storm caused damage or injury? It's inconsiderate, blocking all the light and the leaves that would fall in autumn would be a nightmare to keep tidy.' However, others thought differently. One said, 'This is on you. Fed up with people thinking they have a say in other people's property and want to cut everything down. That tree has been for there years and deserves to be. Don't like it, move. Simple.' A second agreed, adding, 'Do not cut that tree down. The sun moves throughout the day.' 'I love the shade rather that the sun blaring at me. It's an old tree, end of discussion,' said another. It comes after a UK 'mumfluencer' boasting more than 27,000 followers on TikTok posted a video in which she complained that her neighbour's fence was 'the wrong way round' and argued that 'technically we should have the good side of the fence'. By 'the good side of the fence', the influencer, Samantha (@samanthaproudmama), means the smooth side - as opposed to the side with the extra posts that support the structure. Viewed more than 900,000 times, the minute-long clip entitled 'Are we about to fall out with our neighbours?' saw Samantha tour her garden and point out the troublesome fence before asking viewers to share their opinions on whether she should ask next-door to 'turn the fence round'. Explaining first that the fence she shares with the neighbours in question is too small, denying her family privacy, she added that they had already agreed to 'put some trellis up' to extend it. She then got to the heart of the matter, telling viewers: 'Now you will notice that the fence is actually the wrong way around - technically we should have the good side of the fence. 'They're about to put the trellis up but do we say anything? Should we be asking them to turn the fence around so that we get the nice side?' In the caption, she even claimed that there are 'rules' in her area which state: 'If you own the fence you have to give the neighbour the "good" side of the fence!' Yet Samantha's clip, which amassed almost 4,000 comments, appeared to backfire, with some TikTokers asking 'who is the nightmare neighbour?' and others assuming the influencer's fuss over the fence was 'a joke'. Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts on the matter - and there was a lack of consensus One person wrote: 'Glad I'm not your neighbour. Jeeeez'. Another commented: 'Here's me wondering who is the nightmare neighbour.' A third TikTok user asked: 'This has to be a joke?' A fourth was equally critical, calling Samantha 'petty'. They wrote: 'I'm with you on the height of the fence for privacy but you lost me when it came to which side you get. Another person mocked: 'Ask them to turn the fence? If my neighbour asked me to do that, there would only be one response; a massive LOL and door closed!' Someone else added: 'Personally I think it's cheeky to expect neighbours to give you the nice side of their fence'. But not everyone was critical - some TikTok users were simply bemused while others volunteered potential solutions to the problem. One person was baffled by Samantha's predicament and wrote: 'Who knew there was a good and bad side of a fence'. While another TikToker commented: 'Life is too short to stress about fences'. In a bid to be helpful, someone else suggested: 'Just put your own fence in front of it - literally back to back'. Yet supportive responses like this one were few and far between, with the majority of commenters failing to see the matter from Samantha's point of view.
