Going Bush? Take The Right Steps
The Age
Wednesday September 9, 1998
FALLING asleep to the night-time lullaby of the Victorian countryside may be a dream shared by many an inner Melbourne dweller. The rhythm of its creatures at dusk provide a welcome respite from the drone of peak-hour traffic.
But dreams can turn into nightmares without proper planning by those looking to make either a permanent or part-time city exchange with the purchase of an Aussie bush block.
A former Victorian district surveyor, Allan Windust, has seen the growing popularity of the country retreat. According to his recently-published consumer guide, Buying your Bush Block, about 700,000 Australian's live on farmlets carved out of bush blocks.
However, buying property in the bush brings into play new sets of problems. Mr Windust says buyers need to ensure they have adequate water supply and electricity. They should determine whether their land is prone to flooding, salination, weed infestation and fire.
"When you buy country land under the modern title registration system, you have the assurance of knowing your title is guaranteed by government, but little else," Mr Windust states in the introduction to the guide.
"Our modern title system has its roots in the last century and the British tradition. Hence its stress (is) on accuracy of area, metes and bounds and little else," he says.
Mr Windust says small rural get-aways provide a healthy lifestyle. Landowners are able to grow their own food and drink untainted water. The author's wife, Joan, said her husband's rural background as a surveyor and landowner underlined his knowledge on the transfer of rural land.
"Living with your family on a farmlet should be the happiest experience of your life . . . provided you take simple advice. To ignore advice can lead down a rocky road where the dream block becomes a nightmare," she said.
Misleading advertising for rural blocks can gloss over which areas flood, and those prone to weeds each spring.
"Impulse buying can cost you more than you bargained for in having to provide power, water, access and much more," Mr Windust states.
The guide points to anecdotal evidence of marriage break-ups caused by spoilt dreams.
© 1998 The Age
