Otim v Madden [2012] NSWLEC 1008

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Otim v Madden [2012] NSWLEC 1008 Hearing dates: 2 December 2011 Decision date: 20 January 2012 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Hewett AC Decision: Application for compensation upheld and orders made for payment Orders made for the pruning of dead wood Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] - damage to property; trees already removed - compensation ordered - pruning ordered - Expert report rejected Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Interpretation Act 1987 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152 Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Texts Cited: Review of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) November 2009 Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Amendment Bill 2010 Category: Principal judgment Parties: M and S Otim (Applicants)

M and M Madden (Respondents) Representation: M and S Otim (Applicants in person)

M and M Madden (Respondents in person) File Number(s): 20753 of 2011

Judgment 1Mr and Mrs Otim are the owners of a property in Linigen Place, St Ives and they have applied for orders under s 7 Part 2 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) concerning eight trees belonging to their neighbours, Mr and Mrs Madden. 2The Otims seek orders requiring the Maddens to: (a)cut the trees that pose a danger to their home and their lives. (b)underpin a rock which poses danger to their home and their lives. (c)reimburse out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to trees falling on their property.