Pryce v Fragiadakis [2012] NSWLEC 1053

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Pryce v Fragiadakis [2012] NSWLEC 1053 Hearing dates: 9 March 2012 Decision date: 09 March 2012 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: (1) The application to remove the tree is dismissed. (2) The respondent is to engage and pay for a suitably qualified (minimum AQF Level 3) arborist, with all appropriate insurance, to prune the Sydney Peppermint that overhangs the applicant's property. Pruning is to: reduce that part of the crown over the applicant's pool by reducing long limbs to suitable lateral branches, removing no more than 15% of total leaf area of the crown; and to remove any deadwood greater than 25 mm diameter from the crown. (3) The works in (2) are to be carried out in accordance with AS4373:2007 Pruning of Amenity Trees and with the WorkCover Code of Practice for the Amenity Tree Industry . (4) The works in (2) are to be completed within 60 days of the date of these orders. (5) Every two years, within 30 days of the anniversary of the date of these orders, the respondent is to engage and pay for a suitably qualified (minimum AQF Level 3) arborist, with all appropriate insurance, to prune the Sydney Peppermint to: reduce that part of the crown over the applicant's pool by reducing any long limbs to suitable lateral branches, removing no more than 15% of total leaf area of the crown; and to remove any deadwood greater than 25 mm diameter from the crown. (6) The works in (5) are to be carried out in accordance with AS4373:2007 Pruning of Amenity Trees and with the WorkCover Code of Practice for the Amenity Tree Industry . (7) The applicant is to allow, and may supervise, any access to her property required for the works in (2) and (5), on reasonable notice and at a reasonable time of the day. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS): damage to property; risk of injury; application for removal dismissed; pruning ordered Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Suzanne Pryce (Applicant)