Gramadah Pty Limited v Hilltops Council [2022] NSWLEC 1022

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Gramadah Pty Limited v Hilltops Council [2022] NSWLEC 1022 Hearing dates: 26 and 27 July 2021, 12 October 2021 Date of orders: 18 January 2022 Decision date: 18 January 2022 Jurisdiction: Class 1 Before: Douglas AC Decision: The Court orders that: 1) The appeal is granted, in part. 2) Permission is granted for the removal of trees 35, 52, and 172, subject to Conditions of Consent at Annexure 'A'. 3) Tree 73 shall be pruned in accordance with AS4373:2007, and retained. 4) Trees 6, 20, 147, 160, and 187 shall be retained, without intervention. Catchwords: APPEAL – appeal against refusal of application to remove vegetation in critically endangered ecological community – whether DA approval is valid – whether evidence provided substantiates that the trees present a genuine risk of damage and/or injury – whether sufficient relevant information has been provided by applicant to support appeal Legislation Cited: Biodiversity Conservatipm Act 2016, s 2.11, Sch 2 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s 4.2 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Land and Environment Court Act 1979, s 39 Local Land Services Act, s 60O, Pt 5B State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017, Pt 1 cl 6, Pt 2 cll 7, 8, Pt 3 cll 9,10,11,12 Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, Pt 31, Div 2, Sch 7 Young Local Environmental Plan 2010, cl 6.5 Young Local Environmental Plan 1991—Urban Lands Young Local Environmental Rural Plan 1993 Cases Cited: Le Bron v Chidiac [2019] NSWLEC 1194 Sheldon v Council of the City of Sydney [2020] NSWLEC 1619 Texts Cited: Australian Standard AS4970-2009-Protection of trees on development sites Land and Environment Court of NSW, COVID-19 Pandemic Arrangements Policy, April 2021 The Body Language of Trees: A Hanbook for Failure Analysis by C. Mathheck and H. Breloer, 1994 Young Development Control Plan 2011 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Gramadah Pty Limited (Applicant) Hilltops Council (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: J Farrell (Applicant) A Menyhart (Solicitor) (Respondent)