Shanks & anor v McNaught & anor; Shanks & anor v Hammond & anor [2012] NSWLEC 1299

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Shanks & anor v McNaught & anor; Shanks & anor v Hammond & anor [2012] NSWLEC 1299 Hearing dates: 26 October 2012 Decision date: 26 October 2012 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Fakes C Decision: Applications upheld in part. 20779 - Removal of one tree ordered. 20780 - Pruning of dead wood ordered Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Future damage to property or potential injury Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152 Category: Principal judgment Parties: P & E Shanks (Applicants) - both matters H & E McNaught (Respondents) - 20779 of 2012 G & A Hammond (Respondents) - 20780 of 2012 Representation: Applicants: P & E Shanks (Litigants in person) - both applications Respondents -20779 of 2012: H & E McNaught (Litigants in person) Respondents - 20780 of 2012: Philip Boyce (Solicitor) Respondents - 20780 of 2012: Philip Boyce & Associates File Number(s): 20779 of 2012; 20780 of 2012

Judgment This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication. 1COMMISSIONER: These are two applications made by the owners of a property in Bowral against the owners of trees growing on two adjoining properties. The Court's practice in these situations is to hear the matters concurrently. 2Both applications are made under s 7 Part 2A of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act). 3The applicants' concerns are that the nominated trees on each of the respondent properties could fail either fail completely, or branches could fall from them, onto their property thus potentially causing damage or injury. The applicants are concerned that trees may fall onto their property in windy conditions irrespective of the direction they may be leaning.