Tran v Kranjcec & anor [2014] NSWLEC 1164

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Tran v Kranjcec & anor [2014] NSWLEC 1164 Hearing dates: 19 August 2014 Decision date: 19 August 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is upheld in part. See orders at paragraph (15). Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); damage; injury; application upheld in part; orders for tree removal and tree pruning. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Lap Thi Tran (Applicant)

Barica Kranjcec (First respondent) Ivan Kranjcec (Second respondent) Representation: Lap Thi Tran, litigant in person (Applicant)

Ana Ladesic, daughter and agent (Respondents) File Number(s): 20441 of 2014

Judgment

This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication.

The application 1Mr and Mrs Kranjcec live in Fairfield East in Sydney's west. They have two large eucalyptus trees in their back garden, one of which is dead and the other has large dead sections. Their neighbours, the Trans, are concerned about dead branches falling from the trees. They say that falling branches have damaged the roof of a pergola over their swimming pool. They are concerned that more dead limbs will fall and may injure their family members or cause further damage. They have approached the Kranjcecs and asked that the trees be removed, but so far the Kranjcecs have refused to remove the trees. Mrs Tran has applied to the Court seeking orders pursuant to Part 2 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) for the trees to be removed. In her filed application Mrs Tran also sought orders for compensation for damage to the pergola roof; however at the hearing she clarified that she did not wish to press that part of the application and only seeks removal of the trees.