In a recent case, the Land and Environment Court has confirmed that an owners corporation can apply to the Court for orders to require trees on a neighboring property which obstruct views from residential lots in the owners corporation’s building to be removed or pruned.  The Court confirmed that the individual lot owners do not have to apply to the Court for that relief.

The Case

A row of 21 Cyprus trees grows on a property in Sydney’s lower North Shore adjacent to a strata building.  The foliage of those trees is relatively close to the windows of some of the apartments in that building.  They obstruct the views from, and sunlight entering, the windows from those apartments.  To remedy that problem, the owners corporation of the apartment building applied to the Land and Environment Court for orders to require the neighbor to remove 9 of the trees and prune 10 of the trees.  Those orders were sought under the Trees (Disputes between Neighbors) Act 2009.

The Problem

In the case, the neighbor argued that the owners corporation was not entitled to apply for any orders on behalf of the apartment owners concerning the trees.  This was because the trees did not obstruct any views or sunlight on the common property but only from the apartments themselves and the owners corporation did not own or manage the apartments as a result of which it did not have standing to apply for orders in relation to the trees.

The Decision

The Land and Environment Court rejected the neighbour’s argument.  The Court held that the land which adjoined the trees in question was common property that was owned by the owners corporation and as the owner of that land the owners corporation could apply for an order relating to an apartment situated on the land in its strata scheme.  The Court also said that the apartment owners or residents themselves could also apply to the Court for orders in relation to the trees.  The Court stressed that this case was different to cases under the Trees Act that relate to tree damage.  In those types of cases apartment owners could only apply to the Court for orders in relation to damage to their apartments and the owners corporation could only apply to the Court for orders relating to damage to common property.

Conclusion

The Court’s decision clarifies that an owners corporation is entitled to apply for relief under the Trees Act in relation to trees on a neighboring property that obstruct views or sunlight through windows in apartments.  The Court’s decision represents a departure from earlier decision of the Court in 2012 in Salmon v Kibble[2012] NSWLEC 1359 in which it was held that an owners corporation could not make an application to the Court and instead applications needed to be made by the owners of the individual apartments.

The case provides greater flexibility for tree disputes involving strata schemes to be resolved through applications that are made by owners corporations.

Case citation: The Owners – Strata Plan No. 52378 v Huang [2025] NSWLEC 1125.