Willoughby City Council v Revelas [2004] NSWLEC 747

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Willoughby City Council v Revelas [2004] NSWLEC 747 PROSECUTOR: Willoughby City Council PARTIES : DEFENDANT: Revelas FILE NUMBER(S) : 50052 of 2003 CORAM: Bignold J KEY ISSUES: Environmental Offences :- lopping tree without consent under Tree Preservation Order-Sentence-offence of low gravity-mitigating circumstances-modest penalty imposed LEGISLATION CITED: Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s 125 CASES CITED: Willoughby City Council v Revelas [2004] NSWLEC 147 DATES OF HEARING: 03/06/2004 EX TEMPORE 06/03/2004 JUDGMENT DATE :

PROSECUTOR: Ms E Duenow, Solicitor SOLICITORS Mallesons Stephen Jaques

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: DEFENDANT: Mr D Brigden, Solicitor SOLICITORS Freehills

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Bignold J

3 June 2004

50052 of 2003 WILLOUGHBY CITY COUNCIL v DR C. REVELAS

JUDGMENT CORAM: HIS HONOUR 1 The matter before me today is the reserved question of sentence and costs flowing from the publication of my reasons for judgment in this matter on 8 April 2004: see [2004] NSWLEC 147. In those reasons for judgment, I concluded at par 95 that the Prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt the Defendant's guilt in respect of the offence with which he had been charged. That was an offence against the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s 125 charging the Defendant that between 1 February 2003 and 12 May 2003 he did, without the consent of the Council, injure a tree being a eucalyptus piperita (a peppermint gum) growing on his property known as number 1 The Tor Walk, Castlecrag, in circumstances whereunder the Tree Preservation and Management Order (the TPO) made pursuant to cl 8 of the Environmental Planning Assessment Model Provisions 1980, the consent of the Prosecuting Council was required to be obtained for the carrying out of that activity.