Small v Minard

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Small v Minard & anor [2016] NSWLEC 1048 Hearing dates:15 February 2016Date of orders: 15 February 2016 Decision date: 15 February 2016 Jurisdiction:Class 2Before: Fakes C Decision: Application dismissed Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Potential damage; debris Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Barker v Kyriakides [2007] NSWLEC 292 Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152; (2008) LGERA 280 Smith & Hannaford v Zhang & Zhou [2011] NSWLEC 29 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category:Principal judgmentParties: Eva Small (Applicant) Matthew and Catherine Minard (Respondents) Representation: Applicant: Mrs E Small (Litigant in person) Respondents: Mr Minard (Agent) File Number(s):20936 of 2015Judgment COMMISSIONER:   The applicant owns a property in Long Jetty. Growing on the adjoining property to the northeast is a Casuarina glauca. The applicant has applied under s 7 Part 2 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (the Act) for orders seeking the lopping or removal of the tree. The orders are sought on the basis that leaves/ needles from the tree are blown or fall into her guttering. The applicant contends that this poses a danger of flooding. She maintains that she has to have the guttering cleared twice a year. The on-site hearing commenced with an inspection of the tree. It is a mature specimen that, according to the respondents, was reduced to about a third of its size by a storm in April 2015. With the arboricultural expertise I bring to the Court, the...