These once friendly neighbours are at war. It's a colossal dispute over a matter of centimetres in a council-owned laneway.
And, it's all due to a mistake made by the local council when they approved the wrong boundary markings more than half a century ago.
Here's what Deon and Meaghan White had to say:
The issue you are investigating is not a squabble between neighbours or a David v Goliath battle as the Svanbergs have suggested to Council.
It is a simple story of a fence being built in the wrong place and needing to be moved.
The fence at 71 John Street encroaches onto a laneway that is designed for the use of all neighbouring properties and is managed by the Council.
Council required the upgrading of the laneway as part of an approved renovation at our home and when the lane was surveyed it was found to be too narrow for vehicular access due to the wrongly positioned fence.
Council therefore requested that the fence encroachment be corrected so the lane could be returned to its full legal width for the benefit of all three adjoining properties and the wider public.
When this position became apparent we were aware of the inconvenience this could cause to the Svanbergs and offered on a number of occasions to "get on the end of a shovel" to move the fence and resolve it in a neighbourly way at no cost to anyone. The Svanbergs repeatedly declined that offer.
The Town of Cottesloe manages the laneway and it is now with them to resolve.
