Williams v Johnson [2014] NSWLEC 1176

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Williams v Johnson [2014] NSWLEC 1176 Hearing dates: 27 August 2014 Decision date: 27 August 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is dismissed. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); hedges; views; sunlight; obstruction not severe; application dismissed. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Grantham Holdings Pty Ltd v Miller [2011] NSWLEC 1122 Haindl v Daisch [2011] NSWLEC 1145 Hinde v Anderson & anor [2009] NSWLEC 1148 Van Hoorn v Sullivan & anor [2013] NSWLEC 1111 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Garry Williams (Applicant)

Wilma Johnson (Respondent) Representation: Garry Williams, litigant in person (Applicant)

Wilma Johnson, litigant in person (Respondent) File Number(s): 20351 of 2014

Judgment

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

The application 1Mrs Wilma Johnson (the respondent) has lived at her Thirroul property for 7 years. She enjoys her large garden, which includes trees and shrubs. The Williams (Mr Garry Williams is the applicant) purchased the neighbouring property in 2009. At that time the large property had a single dwelling, but now appears to be subdivided. During 2011 and 2012 the Williams constructed their new dwelling on the eastern part of that property, close to the common boundary with Mrs Johnson's property. Concerned about her privacy and overlooking issues, Mrs Johnson planted some trees on her side of the common boundary around the time of construction. 2The trees have grown since then so that some have reached the sill height of the Williams' living room window, their only window on this eastern wall of their dwelling. They attempted to come to an arrangement with Mrs Johnson for tree pruning to retain and maintain their access to sunlight and views, but with no satisfactory outcome. Mr Williams then applied to the Court pursuant to s 14B of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 seeking orders from the Court for the trees to be pruned to a height below their window sill and maintained at that height in future. 3Today I must determine the following: * Does Part 2A of the Act apply to the trees? That is, are the trees planted so as to form a hedge, and are they more than 2.5 metres tall? * * Are the trees causing a severe obstruction of sunlight or views, satisfying jurisdictional tests at s 14E(2)(a)? * * If so, do the applicant's interests in having the obstruction remedied outweigh any reasons not to interfere with the trees (s 14E(2)(b))?