Catley v Hajarat

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Catley & anor v Hajarat & anor [2015] NSWLEC 1306 Hearing dates:29 July 2015Date of orders: 05 August 2015 Decision date: 05 August 2015 Jurisdiction:Class 2Before: Fakes C Decision: Application upheld in part see [37] Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Potential damage to property and or injury to persons Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category:Principal judgmentParties: Paul and Anita Catley (Applicants) Lisa and Mohammad Hajarat (Respondents) Representation: Applicants: P & A Catley (Litigants in person) Respondents: L & M Hajarat (Litigants in person) File Number(s):20440 of 2015Judgment COMMISSIONER:   In mid-April 2015 the Central Coast and other parts of the NSW coast were subject to strong winds and heavy rain associated with an ‘east coast low’. During this storm event, two of the five trees at the rear of the respondents’ property failed. One tree fell to the ground and the other tipped over but was supported by adjoining trees. The applicants, who own the adjoining property at the rear (west) of the respondents’ land, have applied under s 7 Part 2 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) for orders seeking the removal of the remaining three trees on the basis that they may fall onto their property and cause serious damage and or injury. In applications under Part 2, the key jurisdictional...