Murphy v Moeskops [2021] NSWLEC 1686

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Murphy v Moeskops [2021] NSWLEC 1686 Hearing dates: 15 September 2021 Date of orders: 9 November 2021 Decision date: 09 November 2021 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The Court orders that: (1) The application is granted to the extent of the orders below. (2) Within 30 days of the date of these orders, the respondent is to prune, or is to engage a suitably insured landscape contractor or arborist to prune, all lilly pilly trees in the hedge along the respondent's common boundary with the applicants' property so that they are no more than 50 centimetres above the common boundary fence, stepping up or down with the fence along the hedge as might be the case, and so that no parts of the trees overhang the applicants' property. (3) The respondent is to give the applicants at least 2 days' notice of the pruning in order (2) and is to remove any debris from the pruning in order (2) from the applicants' property should the applicants wish. (4) Until the lilly pilly trees in the hedge along the respondent's common boundary with the applicants' property are removed, during April each year beginning April 2022, the respondent is to prune, or is to engage a suitably insured landscape contractor or arborist to prune, all lilly pilly trees in the hedge so that they are no more than one metre above the common boundary fence, stepping up or down with the fence along the hedge as might be the case. (5) Periodically, as they see fit, the applicants are to prune any of the lilly pillies' branches that overhang their property back to the common boundary but no further. (6) The exhibits are returned except for A, B and 1. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS) – Pt 2A application – obstruction of sunlight and views – whether trees are planted so as to form a hedge – whether the obstruction is severe – height of the trees when the applicants purchased their property – privacy – pruning ordered Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006, ss 6, 14A, 14B, 14D, 14E, 14F Cases Cited: Vartazarian v Elworthy; Fallows v Elworthy [2020] NSWLEC 1462 Texts Cited: Newcastle Development Control Plan 2012 NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General, Review of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW), (November 2009) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Richard Murphy (First Applicant) Chris Murphy, aka Ya-Hui Hsu (Second Applicant) Christopher Moeskops (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: R Murphy (Litigant in Person) (First Applicant) C Murphy (Litigant in Person) (Second Applicant) M Skinner (Solicitor) (Respondent)