Draft Neighbourhood Disputes (Vegetation) Bill 2016 in Tasmania

On 17 October 2016, the Department of Justice in Tasmania released the draft Neighbourhood Disputes (Vegetation) Bill 2016 [TAS]. The draft Bill aims to provide a cost effective and efficient process for resolving neighbourhood disputes relating to vegetation.

Background to the Draft Bill

The Bill adopts most of the recommendations made by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute (TLRI) in its final report, Problem Trees and Hedges: Access to Sunlight and Views. In total, the report made 18 Recommendations in regards to trees and hedges in the neighbourhood, however, the scope of the Bill extends beyond the recommendations in the TLRI Report, which was limited to neighbourhood disputes relating to sunlight and views.

The Report also recommends five options for reform including:

• Option 1: Make no change and rely on existing law;
• Option 2: The Victorian model of dispute resolution;
• Option 3: Develop a statutory scheme;
• Option 4: Extension of the abatement notice provisions under the Local Government Act 1993 (Tas); and
• Option 5: A hybrid or alternative option.

The Draft Bill

The Neighbourhood Disputes (Vegetation) Bill 2016:

• provides for the Resources Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal to have jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes;
• encourages and outlines processes for informal dispute resolution before formal dispute resolution;
• reinstates the Common Law right of abatement; and
• outlines the rights and responsibilities of land owners in respect to vegetation.

The newly proposed draft Bill includes five parts:

• Part 1 - preliminary, including definitions of plant and plant situated on land;
• Part 2 - rights and responsibilities in relation to plants;
• Part 3 - informal dispute resolution;
• Part 4 - appeals to Appeal Tribunal; and
• Part 5 - miscellaneous.

The Draft Bill closes for submissions on 4 November 2016.

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Draft Neighbourhood Disputes (Vegetation) Bill 2016 [TAS] and secondary materials as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne