Tree Dispute Principles published by the Court
From time to time, the Court will publish a decision, made under the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006, which contains a tree dispute principle.
The table on this page is intended to assist legal practitioners and others wishing to know about LEC tree dispute principles. The lists of relevant cases will be updated on a regular and on-going basis and the latest Tree Dispute Principle to be issued by the Court will be highlighted in the Latest News section on this website's Homepage.
What is a tree dispute principle?
A tree dispute principle is:
- a statement of a probable outcome from;
- a chain of reasoning aimed at reaching; or
- a list of appropriate matters to be considered in making
a decision concerning an application which has been made pursuant to s 7 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006.
The Court will set out tree dispute principles, from time to time, when appropriate cases arise, to provide an understanding of how the Court has approached a particular aspect of such disputes.
While tree dispute principles are stated in general terms, they may be applied to particular cases to promote consistency. Tree dispute principles are not legally binding.
Tree Dispute Principles
| Principle | Specific aspect | Case reference & link |
| The tree was there first | Matters to be considered when determining who should pay for any works or removal of a tree | Black v Johnson (No 2) [2007] NSWLEC 513 |
| Urban trees and ordinary maintenance issues | The dropping of leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds or small elements of deadwood by urban trees ordinarily will not provide the basis for ordering removal of or intervention with an urban tree. | Barker v Kyriakides [2007] NSWLEC 292 |
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