Lau v Gould [2021] NSWLEC 1566

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Lau v Gould [2021] NSWLEC 1566 Hearing dates: 23 September 2021 Date of orders: 23 September 2021 Decision date: 23 September 2021 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The Court orders: (1) The application is refused. (2) The exhibits are returned, except for Exhibit A. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS) – Pt 2A application – neighbouring hedge – lilly pilly – obstruction of a view – whether the obstruction is severe – other issues outside Pt 2A jurisdiction – application refused Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006, Pt 2A, ss 14A, 14B, 14D, 14E, 14F Category: Principal judgment Parties: Man Yi Lau (Applicant) Jody Gould (Respondent) Representation: M Y Lau (Litigant in Person) (Applicant) J Gould (Litigant in Person) (Respondent) File Number(s): 2021/182966 Publication restriction: No

Judgment

This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication.

Background to the application 1. COMMISSIONER: Man Yi Lau ('the applicant') and Jody Gould ('the respondent') are neighbours in a Cheltenham subdivision of several properties that share a common driveway. Ms Lau has owned her property since 2009. Ms Gould, who has lived here for approximately 12 years, became the sole owner of her property in 2019. On Ms Gould's property are several lilly pilly hedges. One of those hedges ('the hedge') grows in a garden bed on her property along the common boundary shared with Ms Lau. It reaches the front of her property at the common driveway. 2. Ms Lau has applied to the Court pursuant to s 14B (Pt 2A) of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 ('the Trees Act'), seeking orders for the hedge to be maintained to Ms Gould's property boundary, so that it does not grow into the common driveway area, and for the hedge's height to be reduced to, and maintained at, the height of the fence on their common boundary.