Good fences might make good neighbours, but unruly plants can lead to expensive legal battles. One homeowner has learned this after forking out a staggering $3,000—not on renovations or landscaping, but on legal fees to fight a garden gone rogue.
Paul Wilkinson, a resident of Brunswick Heads on the picturesque north coast of New South Wales, has found himself in a thorny situation that many homeowners might not anticipate when dreaming of a green, leafy neighbourhood.
His neighbour’s bamboo, once a mere garden feature, has grown into an uncontrollable giant, towering nine metres high and casting a literal and metaphorical shadow over his property and aspirations for energy efficiency.
He said the bamboo’s rapid growth over the last five years has not only outstripped the height of his two-storey home but has also begun to interfere with his newly installed solar panels. The 29 panels, which cost him a hefty $12,000, were strategically placed on the northern end of his roof to capture the sun.
However, his neighbour’s overshadowing bamboo has reportedly limited the potential savings on his power bill: ‘I was hoping my neighbour would be reasonable. My last power bill was almost a thousand dollars.’
Wilkinson’s attempts to address the issue with his neighbour, who uses the property as a holiday home and is often absent, have been met with indifference. Despite the neighbour’s sporadic presence, the bamboo continues to thrive unattended, leaving him to contend with a constant barrage of fallen leaves and a slippery footpath.
The frustration of unproductive discussions has led him to take legal action, forking out almost $3,000 in lawyer fees to apply to the Land and Environment Court. His hope is to have the bamboo forcibly cut back to a reasonable height that allows for both his solar panels to function effectively and his neighbour to maintain their desired privacy.
Wilkinson’s plight is not an isolated incident. Another resident in Port Macquarie has reported a similar struggle, with her neighbour’s bamboo reducing her solar panels’ efficiency to a mere 5-10 per cent of their full capacity, resulting in a $600 increase in her quarterly power bills.
‘They planted it there for privacy, they didn’t want to see the pergola and solar panels and I understand that. But the bamboo is out of control, it becomes extremely thick and continues to grow,’ she told Yahoo News.
‘During daylight hours my house should be off the electrical grid but the sun is blocked by the bamboo… Originally, our power bill was $400-500 a quarter but now I’m at $1,000 because my solar isn’t working.’
Tim Pickles, a garden centre owner, warns that bamboo is not suitable for the narrow gardens typical of Australian towns and cities.
‘Bamboo, by nature, spreads and gets wider and wider over time, so in today’s narrow gardens, it impacts your neighbours. They’re uncontrollable… it eventually pops up next door… it’s disrupting as it can lift pavements, concrete fences… It’s a powerful plant,’ he explained.
This incident serves as a cautionary tale for homeowners and garden enthusiasts alike. The allure of bamboo’s aesthetic and privacy benefits must be weighed against its potential to become an invasive and disruptive force.
As more Australians invest in solar energy, it’s crucial to consider the long-term implications of planting such vigorous species near property boundaries.
If you’re facing a similar backyard battle or have insights on how to navigate neighbourly disputes over unruly plants, we invite you to share your experiences with the YourLifeChoices community in the comments below. Your story could help others avoid the shade of unexpected costs and legal fees in their pursuit of a harmonious and sustainable home environment.
Also read: 80-year-old tree vs one complaint: Council’s decision sparks uproar
Here’s the quandary that the solar panel people have to face, one core argument for installing solar panels is to reduce their “carbon footprint” by reducing their demand on the legacy Grid. In real terms, if that was an objective, the bamboo is doing more for cleaning the atmosphere than any solar panel array.
Anyone installing solar panels needs to consider that any trees that will cast a shadow on their proposed location has to remember that more trees are better for the environment than any unreliable power source.
If however if they chose the solar for pure personal greed reasons, they get what is reasonable.
A quarterly power Bill of $1,000 suggests that all is not efficient within their home. The true savings may be lurking closer than their roof top.