du Plooy v Taylor [2015] NSWLEC 1072

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: du Plooy v Taylor [2015] NSWLEC 1072 Hearing dates: 13 March 2015 Decision date: 13 March 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Durland AC Decision: The application is dismissed Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); damage, injury, application dismissed. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) (2009) Cases Cited: Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Smith and Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Category: Principal judgment Parties: C du Plooy (Applicant) D Taylor (Respondent) Representation: C du Plooy, litigant in person (Applicant) D Taylor, litigant in person (Respondent) File Number(s): 21094 of 2014

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

Judgment 1. This is an application pursuant to section 7 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) concerning two trees located on a property at Beaumont Hills. The trees are identified on the application form as Tree 1 and Tree 2. 2. The applicant (Mr du Plooy) is seeking orders for the removal of two Ironbarks located on the adjoining property to the rear. The property where the trees are growing is owned by Mr Taylor (the respondent). 3. The provisions of section 10(2)(a) of the Trees Act require that I be satisfied that one or more of four tests are met with respect to each tree subject to the application, before I have jurisdiction to consider the application. * These tests are: * Has the tree caused damage to the applicant's property? * Is the tree now causing damage to the applicant's property? * Is the tree likely in the near future to cause damage to the applicant's property? * Is the tree likely to cause injury to a person? * Only if one or more of the tests is satisfied can I move on to consider what orders, if any, I should make in respect to each of the trees.