Aquawest Pty Ltd v Twynham [2017] NSWSC 652

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Aquawest Pty Ltd v Twynham [2017] NSWSC 652 Hearing dates: 23 March 2017 Date of orders: 25 May 2017 Decision date: 25 May 2017 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Lonergan J Decision: (1) The amended summons is dismissed. (2) The Plaintiff to pay the Defendant's costs of the appeal. Catchwords: APPEAL – Local Court – Breach of contract – Appeal as of right on a question of law – whether question of law or fact – whether question of mixed law and fact – no error of law.

CONTRACTS – general contractual principles – construction and interpretation of contracts – meaning of punctuation mark – meaning of forward slash – whether interpretation of punctuation in a clause in a contract is a question of law. Legislation Cited: Local Court Act 2007 (NSW) Cases Cited: Andar Transport Pty Ltd v Brambles Ltd (2004) 217 CLR 424 Bofinger v Kingsway Group Ltd (2009) 239 CLR 269 Life Assurance Co of Australia Ltd v Phillips (1925) 36 CLR 60 Collector of Customs v Pozzolanic Enterprises Pty Ltd (1993) 43 FCR 280 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Aquawest Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Paul Twynham (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: S Chapple (Plaintiff) R Glover (Defendant)

Solicitors: Peacockes Solicitors (Plaintiff) Matthews Dooley & Gibson (Defendant) File Number(s): 2016/91797 Decision under appeal Court or tribunal: New South Wales Local Court Jurisdiction: Common Law Date of Decision: 25 February 2016 Before: Magistrate Stewart File Number(s): 2014/324657