Ingham v Scenna

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Amendment notes Medium Neutral Citation: Ingham v Scenna [2016] NSWLEC 1001 Hearing dates:1 December 2015Date of orders: 05 January 2016 Decision date: 05 January 2016 Jurisdiction:Class 2Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is upheld. See orders at paragraph 41. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); zoning of land; environmental management zone; hedges; obstruction of sunlight; obstruction of views; orders for tree pruning; orders for tree removal. Legislation Cited: Interpretation Act 1987 Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Tenacity Consulting v Waringah [2004] NSWLEC 140 Texts Cited: Review of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (NSW) (2009) Second Reading Speech, NSW Legislative Council,18 May 2010 Category:Principal judgmentParties: Anna Ingham (Applicant) Lisa Scenna (Respondent) Representation: Anna Ingham, litigant in person (Applicant) Ms M Williams and Ms A Wilson, agents (Respondent) File Number(s):20675 of 2015JudgmentBackground On the outskirts of Blackheath, abutting Blue Mountains National Park, residents live on large lots in a leafy environment. Garden landscapes comprise a mixture of native and exotic plants offset by the native bushland of the neighbouring national park. Ms Ingham (‘the applicant’) has owned her property since 2001. It is a long narrow property with her dwelling set back from the road frontage to the south and a roughly northerly outlook toward the national park from the rear of her dwelling. Here at the back of her dwelling are her living room and kitchen, with large windows, and an outdoor raised deck. She says the dwelling was designed...