Where a hedge is blocking sunlight or views the Court can make
orders to:
- Prune or remove the hedge;
- Maintain the hedge at a specific height or width; and
- Order to remove the trees in the hedge to be removed and
replaced with a different species.
The test applied by the Court is whether the severity and nature
of the obstruction is such that the applicant's interest in
having the obstruction removed, remedied or restrained outweighs
any other matters that suggest the undesirability of disturbing or
interfering with the trees by making an order.
This raises the difficult question of what constitutes a
"severe obstruction". Unfortunately, there is not a
single definition of this term. Whether an obstruction of sunlight
or views is severe is ultimately a question of fact for a
Commissioner of the Court to determine.
