FENCES ACT 1968 - SECT 6 When is a dividing fence a sufficient dividing fence?

FENCES ACT 1968 - SECT 6

    (1)     For the purposes of this Act, in determining whether a dividing fence is a sufficient dividing fence regard must be had to the following—

        (a)     the existing dividing fence (if any);

        (b)     the purposes for which the owners of the adjoining lands use or intend the lands to be used;

        (c)     the reasonable privacy concerns of the owners of the adjoining lands;

        (d)     the types of dividing fences used in the locality;

        (e)     any policy or code relating to dividing fences adopted by the municipal council of the area in which the adjoining lands are situated;

        (f)     any relevant planning instruments relating to the adjoining lands or to the locality in which the lands are situated;

        (g)     any relevant building laws relating to the adjoining lands and the carrying out of fencing works and any subsidiary works;

        (h)     the existence of any agreements or covenants that are relevant to the adjoining lands;

              (i)     the duties (if any) of an owner of land under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 to control pest animals;

        (j)     the need for a dividing fence, having regard to any existing waterway or obstruction (whether natural or manmade) that is on, or forms, the common boundary between adjoining lands.

    (2)     Despite subsection (1), if different standards of dividing fence are required for different purposes, a sufficient dividing fence for those lands is the lesser standard of fence.

    (3)     Despite this section, if agricultural land shares a common boundary with residential land, a sufficient dividing fence for those lands is a dividing fence that would be a sufficient dividing fence for agricultural lands.

Note

Section 7 provides for the liability of owners in respect of sufficient dividing fences

Pt 1 (Heading and ss 4– 13) amended by No. 7876 s. 2(3), S.R. No. 154/1974 reg. 2(a), Nos 9019 s. 2(1)(Sch. item 68), 16/1986 s. 30, 12/1989 s. 4(1)(Sch. 2 items 43.2–43.7), 57/1989 s. 3(Sch. items 70.2–70.9), 81/1989 s. 3(Sch. item 15.1), substituted as Pt 2 (Heading and ss 7– 10) by No. 30/2014 s. 6.

Part 2—Contributing to fences

S. 7 substituted by No. 30/2014 s. 6.