Hazlewood v Paton [2013] NSWLEC 1208

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Hazlewood v Paton [2013] NSWLEC 1208 Hearing dates: 29 October 2013 Decision date: 29 October 2013 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Fakes C Decision: Application dismissed Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Damage to property; injury; Hedge - obstruction of sunlight Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mr H Hazlewood (Applicant) Ms N Paton (Respondent) Representation: Applicant: Mr H Hazlewood (Litigant in person) Respondent: Ms N Paton (Litigant in person) File Number(s): 20599 of 2013

Judgment This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication. 1COMMISSIONER: The owner of a property in Moss Vale has appealed under both s7 Part 2 and s 14B Part 2A of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act). 2The applicant is seeking the removal of one dead tree and the reduction by half their size of another five trees that are growing on the respondent's property to the north. 3As allowed by the Registrar, the applicant is also seeking compensation of a sum of $712 for tree pruning, tip fees, application fees, service of documents, and fence repair. 4The trees are a row of six mature conifers - cultivars of xCupressocyparis leylandii (Leyland Cypress). An additional tree, a Hakea sp. growing amongst the trees, is not part of the application. The trees are numbered from west to east on the applicant's diagrams; tree 4 is dead. The tree extend about two thirds of the width of the applicant's rear fence line. 5The respondent does not wish to remove or prune any of the trees as she enjoys the visual amenity they provide. She stated at the hearing that the trees provide habitat for possums and many birds.