Lord v Grech; Brooke v Grech [2015] NSWLEC 1190

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Lord v Grech; Brooke v Grech [2015] NSWLEC 1190 Hearing dates: 27 May 2015 Date of orders: 27 May 2015 Decision date: 27 May 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: Both applications are upheld. See orders at (15). Catchwords: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours); hedge; severe obstruction of sunlight; application upheld; pruning ordered Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Kathleen Lord (Applicant, 20177 of 2015) Rip Brooke (Applicant, 20178 of 2015) Paul Grech (Respondent, both matters Representation: Stephen Lincoln, agent (Applicants, both matters) Paul Grech, litigant in person (Respondent, both matters) File Number(s): 20177 of 2015; 20178 of 2015

Judgment

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

Background 1. When Mr Grech purchased his Richmond property several years ago, a row of Leyland Cypress trees had just been planted in the rear garden, about one metre away from the rear boundary. To the south of that boundary are lowset brick dwellings: one owned and occupied by Ms Lord, the other by Mr Brooke. Over the last few years both Ms Lord and Mr Brooke have seen the Cypress trees grow taller, until they both now say that north-facing windows of their dwellings receive no sunlight for much of the day in winter. They have each filed an application with the Land and Environment Court, pursuant to s 14B of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 ("the Trees Act"), seeking orders for Mr Grech to cut and maintain the hedge at a height that would restore direct sunlight to their windows. 2. The two applications are separate but apply to trees in the one hedge, so they have been heard concurrently and will be dealt with together in this single judgment.