Owners Corporation Strata plan 56927 v Horner and anor [2012] NSWLEC 1146

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Owners Corporation Strata plan 56927 v Horner and anor [2012] NSWLEC 1146 Hearing dates: 1 June 2012 Decision date: 01 June 2012 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Fakes C Decision: Application to remove trees dismissed Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Owners Corporation Strata plan 56927 (Applicant) B and H Horner (Respondents) Representation: Applicant: Mr Otto Stichter (Solicitor) Respondents: Mr Brad Horner (Litigant in person) File Number(s): 20175 of 2012

Judgment This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication. 1COMMISSIONER:The application is made under s 7 Part 2 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act). The applicant in these proceedings seeks orders for the removal a Norfolk Island Pine and a Eucalyptus microcorys (Tallowwood) growing on an adjoining property in Balgownie. The orders are sought on the basis that the trees could fail and therefore cause significant damage to property and injury to anyone present at the time. 2Orders are also sought for the payment of costs associated with the application. In this regard, Commissioners do not have the jurisdiction to award costs and a separate application by way of a Notice of Motion must be made to be heard by the Registrar or a Judge of the Court. 3The respondents dispute the applicant's contentions and generally do not wish to remove the trees.