ABSTRACT
People are an intensely social species and, as such, live in close communities. Most live in relatively densely populated urban areas relying on such grouping for convenience and safety. The primary control at common law over our activities is through nuisance law which protects the enjoyment of our property from unreasonable interference. Social legislation has developed through the incorporation of the common law into environmental health legislation in the form of the statutory nuisance and in planning controls, and housing laws. Nuisance law is one of those areas where the common law is imported wholesale into the concept of the statutory nuisance. All legal and equitable rights must clearly constitute sufficient proprietary rights in land to found an action in nuisance subject to the rights of the equitable owner being clarified at the outset of any litigation.
