Harrison v Treasure [2018] NSWLEC 1190

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Harrison v Treasure [2018] NSWLEC 1190 Hearing dates: 17 April 2018 Date of orders: 17 April 2018 Decision date: 17 April 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: 1) The application is dismissed. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); hedges; obstruction of views; trees are not planted so as to form a hedge; obstruction not severe; reasons not to interfere with the trees would outweigh those for making orders. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) Cases Cited: Johnson & ors v Angus & anor [2012] NSWLEC 1207 Johnson v Angus [2012] NSWLEC 192 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Lea Harrison (Applicant) Jane Treasure (Respondent) Representation: L Harrison, litigant in person (Applicant) J Treasure, litigant in person (Respondent) File Number(s): 17/379803 Publication restriction: No

Judgment

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

Background 1. Ms Harrison (the applicant) has lived at her Nimbin property since 2007. During that time she has enjoyed views from her dwelling – views that she says are now obstructed by trees on the neighbouring property owned by Ms Treasure (the respondent). Ms Harrison has asked Ms Treasure for the trees to be pruned, but has been unsuccessful, so has applied to the Court pursuant to s 14B of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) ('the Trees Act') seeking orders for one tree to be removed and two trees to be pruned. 2. The hearing took place onsite, allowing observations of the trees and views. Both parties are self-represented and have not presented any expert evidence. I bring my own arboricultural expertise and experience to this matter.