More than 1300 Hume and Whittlesea residents sought help from the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria in the past financial year, putting them among the highest users of the service in the state.
Figures released by the centre show 717 Hume residents, the fifth-most in Victoria, sought help from the centre, with 116 being referred for further legal advice or mediation.
In Whittlesea, 549 residents contacted the centre, the 10th-most in state. Of those, 44 were referred for further advice or mediation.
Overall, 19,732 Victorians sought help from the centre, an increase of more than
5 per cent on the previous 12 months.
The disputes included fencing, behaviour, property, financial and noise issues.
Behavioural issues topped the number of the complaints in Hume, with 242 people seeking help. Fence disputes (232) and disputes over plants and trees (104) were the next highest.
In Whittlesea, 305 residents complained about fencing issues, followed by 107 behaviour complaints and 75 complaints to do with plants and trees.
Centre director Gina Ralston said there were common themes.
“The increase in reports shows people are seeking help at an early stage, which will hopefully prevent smaller disputes from escalating to more complex ones,’’ she said.
“Don’t let disagreements over issues such as fencing, barking dogs or loud music degenerate into more serious conflict such as assault, criminal damage or harassment.”
Asked for comments, a Hume council spokeswoman said council could not comment on the disputes issue as it was not in its domain.
