Weber v Greater Hume Shire Council [2019] NSWCA 74

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Weber v Greater Hume Shire Council [2019] NSWCA 74 Hearing dates: 26, 27 February 2019 Date of orders: 17 April 2019 Decision date: 17 April 2019 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Gleeson JA at [200]; Sackville AJA at [201] Decision: (1) Grant Sharon Patricia Weber leave to appeal from the judgment and orders in the Common Law Division; (2) Allow the appeal and set aside orders made on 14 May 2018; in their place make the following orders – (a) Give judgment for the representative plaintiff, Sharon Patricia Weber, against the defendant, Greater Hume Shire Council, in the amount of $104,400 plus interest; (b) Order that the defendant pay the plaintiff's costs of the trial of the common issues; (c) Remit the proceedings to the Common Law Division to deal with the outstanding issues in the representative proceedings. (3) Order that the respondent pay the appellant's costs in this Court. Catchwords: TORTS — negligence — duty of care — duty of care owed by operator of waste disposal tip — escape of fire – whether class to whom duty owed indeterminate

TORTS — negligence — standard of care — whether Council exercising special statutory power under Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 43A

TORTS — negligence — breach of duty — whether adequate precautions taken to prevent escape of fire – allocation of resources by local council — application of Civil Liability Act, s 42 — whether inaction of local council unreasonable — whether financial resources available to take precautions