Lewis v Lorden [2020] NSWLEC 1416

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Lewis v Lorden [2020] NSWLEC 1416 Hearing dates: 30 July 2020 Date of orders: 30 July 2020 Decision date: 30 July 2020 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Douglas AC Decision: Refer to orders at [34] Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS) – high hedges – severe obstruction of views Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Grantham Holdings Pty Ltd v Miller [2011] NSWLEC 1122 Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152 Tenacity Consulting v Warringah (2004) 134 LGERA 23; [2004] NSWLEC 140 Texts Cited: Leichhardt Development Control Plan 2013 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Anne Lewis (First Applicant) Alaric Barnes (Second Applicant) Kate Lorden (First Respondent) Greg Thomson (Second Respondent) Representation: Counsel: A Lewis (Litigant in person) (First Applicant) A Barnes (Litigant in person) (Second Applicant) R Green (Solicitor) (Respondent)

Solicitor: Robert Green Legal (Respondent) File Number(s): 2020/64062 Publication restriction: No

Judgment

This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication. 1. COMMISSIONER: Ms Lewis and Mr Barnes submitted an application, pursuant to s 14B of Part 2A of the Trees (Disputes between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act), claiming that a hedge in their adjacent neighbour's property severely restricts views. The applicants' eastern side boundary adjoins the rear boundary of Ms Lorden and Mr Thomsons', the respondents, land. 2. Ms Lewis and Mr Barnes occupied their property in East Balmain in March 2010. In about 2013, Ms Lorden and Mr Thomson planted a row of seven Pyrus calleryana 'Capital' (Ornamental Pears) (the trees). Since then, the trees have grown strongly, by 2018 they had reached a height of around seven metres, and had begun to block Ms Lewis and Mr Barnes' views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, from an upstairs bedroom. Subsequently, the trees were pruned by the respondents, so as to reduce their height and thus mitigate the view obstruction, after which they had regrown, such that they are currently about 6.5 metres tall.