Neighbours’ extraordinary feud explodes over a tiny strip of land in an inner-city Sydney suburb – before one of the warring parties goes to extreme lengths to claim it all for his own
- Two neighbours are at war over a tiny strip of land between their homes
- One of the men, Christopher Hardy, successfully claimed squatter’s rights
- He has been tending to land on his neighbour’s property for at least 12 years
- When his neighbour tried to renovate the land, Mr Hardy took him to court
Two neighbours went to war over a tiny strip of land between their homes which was once used to pick up human waste from old fashioned outhouses.
Christopher Luke Hardy invoked adverse possession laws – commonly known as squatters’ rights – when a NSW Supreme Court judge granted him possession over the patch of grass on Thursday.
The 3.35 square-metre remnant of a ‘dunny lane’ in Redfern technically sits within the boundary lines of Joseph Sidoti’s property, but Mr Hardy had been landscaping and tending to the grounds for at least 12 years.
Mr Hardy relied on the arcane squatter’s rights law to argue possession in court, and Justice Francois Kunc in his judgement determined he was ‘entitled to a declaration of his ownership of the land’.
Two neighbours are at war over a tiny strip of land between their homes which was once used to pick up human waste from old fashioned outhouses
The 3.35 square metre remnant of a ‘dunny lane’ in Redfern technically sits within the boundary lines of Joseph Sidoti’s property, but Mr Hardy had been landscaping and tending to the grounds for at least 12 years
He said the proceedings concerned two ‘very Australian phenomena’ – being the ‘dunny’ and a dedication to home improvement.
Justice Kunc also noted the land would be considered highly valuable, given the gentrification of Redfern in recent years.
‘Those parts of Redfern which feature exquisitely renovated terrace houses are now highly prized Sydney real estate,’ he said.
Technically, the patch of land was owned by his neighbour, who purchased the property in 2018.
The lane was once used by the ‘dunny man’ to collect human waste from brick outhouses near the back of terraces on the streets.
Mr Hardy has owned his property since January 1998, and his former neighbours lived in the terrace for 40 years before eventually selling to Mr Sidoti in April 2018.
Back in 2002, Mr Hardy removed an old fence which separated his property from the lane, and in the years to follow he tended to the lane as he did his own backyard.
Technically, the patch of land was owned by his neighbour, Joseph Sidoti, who purchased the property in 2018
Justice Kunc said he made the small strip, which was about 88 centimetres by 3.81 metres, look like ‘a small boutique Japanese style garden’.
But in late 2019, Mr Sidoti performed renovations and landscaping work which incorporated the patch of land into a courtyard in his property.
Mr Hardy argued the land was rightfully his and took his new neighbours to the Supreme Court to prove it.
He was able to show the court he had enjoyed uninterrupted possession of the land for at least 12 years – which is the requirement to claim adverse possession.
Justice Kunc said his possession was ‘overt’ and ‘not by force’.
If his former neighbours had taken issue with his tending to the land, they had until 2017 to claim it as their own.
When the land was sold, Mr Sidoti did not automatically acquire the land, the court ruled.