Fence disputes could fall with new law changes

New rules aim to clear the air on border disputes.

Recent changes to the law will make it easier to love your neighbour or at least not fight with them over the back fence.

But they will also mean property owners who border parks or reserves can expect to foot big bills for fixing their fence because their local council is no longer obliged to chip in.

Neighbours commonly fall out over the condition, kind and cost of replacing fences but the Fences Amendment Bill 2014 updating the original 1968 act, which takes effect this week, should pre-empt some of those issues.

Key changes to fence laws include shifting the onus of liability for fences from the property's occupier to its owner and requiring adjoining owners to contribute equally to a "sufficient" dividing fence, a change that has exempted councils from responsibility.

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"Previously councils were deemed as occupiers under section 3 of the old fences act. Now the law specifically excludes municipal councils," Tisher Liner FC Law partnerPhillip Leaman said.

That may not prevent the councils from agreeing to contribute, but they no longer have a legal obligation to do so, he said.

Many of Melbourne's parks and reserves are owned by local municipalities.

The amended laws also set out new rules for notifying neighbours, determining boundaries and carrying out and paying for urgent fencing works.

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Fence disputes could fall with new law changes