By Geoff Hardy - 9 May 2018
The storm in Auckland on 10 April
caught many people unaware. Trees caused carnage in many
neighbourhoods - cutting power lines, falling on parked cars and
destroying homes. In fact, many people are now looking at leafy
inner city suburbs with fresh eyes. Could we have been growing our
own 'weapons of mass destruction' all these years?
If you were affected by the recent storms, you've probably
either been on the phone to an arborist already or you're tuning
the chainsaw. But what can you do if the trees that bother you
belong to your neighbours?
The first common sense suggestion is of course to talk to your
neighbours. If you were affected, they may well be next. If you
have no joy there, you may want to turn to the law.
The common law tort of nuisance covers incidences where damage
is (or in some circumstances may be) caused by trees from
neighbouring properties.
Your remedies could be a mandatory injunction (forcing someone
to trim or even remove their tree) and/or damages (compensation for
the cost of the damage caused to your property by the tree).
These remedies are only available when:
- Actual damage has occurred
- The trees are inherently dangerous, or
- The trees are kept in a dangerous state.
However, the Courts have held that an injunction can be sought
for prospective damage in certain circumstances and that a failure
to clear land can result in liability.
If you're the owner of a tree, you might want to find out what
your obligations are.
If you're the victim of tree damage, you might want to find out
what you can do about it.
Contact our litigation team if in doubt.
Contacts
Geoff
Hardy