Kengike & anor v Bale [2017] NSWLEC 1353

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Kengike & anor v Bale [2017] NSWLEC 1353 Hearing dates: 4 July 2017 Date of orders: 04 July 2017 Decision date: 04 July 2017 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is dismissed. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); debris; damage or injury not likely in the near future; application dismissed. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Leufisa Kengike (First Applicant) Gemma Rose (Second Applicant) Gavin Bale (Respondent) Representation: Leufisa Kengike & Gemma Rose, Litigants in Person (Applicants) Gavin Bale, Litigant in Person (Respondent) File Number(s): 74954 of 2017

Judgment

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

Background 1. Gavin Bale ('the respondent') owns a residential Erskine Park property on which stands a tall Eucalyptus scoparia ('the tree'), commonly known as a Wallangarra White Gum. The tree is near the common boundary he shares with Leufisa Kengike and Gemma Rose ('the applicants'), who have applied to the Court pursuant to s 7 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 ('the Trees Act') seeking orders for the respondent to remove the tree. Before I can make any orders I must be satisfied that the tree has caused, is causing, or is likely in the near future to cause, damage to the applicants' property, or is likely to cause injury to any person (s 10(2) of the Trees Act).