Torresan v Sawyer

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Torresan v Sawyer & anor [2015] NSWLEC 1012 Hearing dates:30 January 2015Decision date: 30 January 2015 Jurisdiction:Class 2Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is upheld in part. See orders at paragraph (16). Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); risk of damage and injury; application upheld; one tree to be removed and one tree pruned; replanting ordered Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Category:Principal judgmentParties: Liliana Torresan (Applicant) Geoffrey Sawyer (First Respondent) Michelle Sawyer (Second Respondent) Representation: Liliana Torresan, litigant in person (Applicant)   Geoffrey Sawyer and Michelle Sawyer, litigants in person (Respondents) File Number(s):20734 of 2014JudgmentThis decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication.Background This matter concerns two trees in a residential garden in Balmain. The property on which the trees grow is owned by Michelle and Geoffrey Sawyer (“the respondents”). Their neighbour, Ms Torresan (“the applicant”), has applied to the Land and Environment Court seeking orders pursuant to s 7 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (“the Trees Act”) for one tree to be removed and for the other to be pruned annually. The trees are both native Eucalypts protected by Leichhardt Municipal Council’s Tree Preservation Order (TPO). The Sawyers value their trees. They say they would remove the trees if necessary, but they have taken appropriate steps by applying to Council for removal of Tree 1 and by having the tree inspected by an arborist. Council has not...