Haigh v Rothwell [2009] NSWLEC 1394

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Haigh v Rothwell [2009] NSWLEC 1394

APPLICANT Garnet and Christine Haigh PARTIES : RESPONDENT Dr Sharyn Rothwell

FILE NUMBER(S) : 20441 of 2009

CORAM: Murrell C - Thyer AC

KEY ISSUES: TREES (NEIGHBOURS) :- Orders varied by consent in accordance with Uniform Civil Procedure Rules

LEGISLATION CITED: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006

DATES OF HEARING: 13 November 2009

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 13 November 2009

APPLICANT Garnet and Christine Haigh (litigant in person) LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES:

RESPONDENT Dr Sharyn Rothwell (litigant in person)

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Murrell C Thyer AC

13 November 2009

20441 of 2009 Garnet and Christine Haigh v Dr Sharyn Rothwell

JUDGMENT 1 By Consent the orders in this matter issued by the Court on the 26th of August 2009 are varied in accordance with the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules, r 36.15(2).

2 By way of background the Court Orders of 26 August 2009 were as follows: 1. The tree is to be retained. 2. All deadwood with a diameter greater than 20 mm shall be pruned and removed from the crown of the tree by 31 October 2009, by an AQF Level 3 arborist; 3 Beginning in 2010, all deadwood with a diameter greater than 20 mm shall be pruned and removed from the crown of the tree each year during July or August, by an AQF Level 3 arborist and at the same time a visual inspection of the tree is to be carried out including the area of damage at the stub above the main scaffold branch junction at about 10m above ground; 4. The above inspections and work carried out on the tree shall be at the respondent's cost; 5. All climbing, investigation and work on the tree shall be done in accordance with the Australian Standard AS 4373-2007 Pruning of Amenity Trees , and the NSW WorkCover Code of Practice for the Amenity Tree Industry (1998); 6 The applicant shall grant access over their property to carry out the ordered investigations and work on the tree; 7. The ordered work shall take place at reasonable times and on reasonable notice to the applicant. 3 This morning the Court received evidence on the technical and practical difficulties in undertaking a Picus Sonic Tomograph to determine the structural integrity of the junction between the two main lateral branches at the division of the trunk tree in the area of the first order scaffold branch junctions referred to in the previous Order 4.