Barry v Stelzer; Barry v Lucas [2011] NSWLEC 1104

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Barry v Stelzer; Barry v Lucas [2011] NSWLEC 1104 Hearing dates: 11 May 2011 Decision date: 11 May 2011 Before: Fakes C Decision: Applications dismissed Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS]; hedge; obstruction of views Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Wisdom v Payn [2011] NSWLEC 1012 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Application No. 20091 of 2011 APPLICANT P and S Barry

RESPONDENT C Stelzer

Application No 20092 of 2011 APPLICANT P and S Barry

RESPONDENT E and S Lucas Representation: Mr P Barry (Applicant in person)

Ms C Stelzer (Respondent in person) Mr E Lucas (Respondent in person) File Number(s): 20091 of 2011 20092 of 2011

Judgment This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication. 1COMMISSIONER: This are two separate applications pursuant to s 14B Part 2A of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) made by the owners of a property in Taren Point against the owners of trees on two adjoining properties. The matters were heard concurrently. 2The applicants are seeking orders for the pruning of a number of trees on both properties to a height of 3.5m to enable regrowth up to 4-4.5m on the basis that the nominated trees are severely obstructing views from their dwelling. The main view in contention is across Gwawley Bay and the Georges River to Kogarah Bay to the north. 3The trees are located on two different properties both of which adjoin the applicants'. The Stelzer property is to the northeast and the Lucas property is to the north. The Lucas property is a battleaxe block at the rear of the Stelzer property and has use of the driveway as a right of way.