Barrett v Willoughby City Council

Barrett (the plaintiff) brought proceedings against Willoughby City Council (the defendant) in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the Council's alleged breach of its duty of care to the plaintiff, who suffered injuries when a tree fell on his vehicle. The plaintiff alleged that the Council was negligent in its maintenance of the tree, which was located on Council land adjacent to a public road.

The central legal issue before Manousaridis J was whether the Council owed a duty of care to the plaintiff in relation to the maintenance of the tree, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. Specifically, the court had to determine if the Council had taken reasonable steps to prevent the tree from falling, considering its condition and the surrounding circumstances. This involved assessing whether the Council had adequate systems in place for inspecting and maintaining trees on its property that posed a risk to road users.

Manousaridis J found that the Council did owe a duty of care to road users, including the plaintiff, to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm from trees on its land. The court applied the principles of negligence, considering the foreseeability of the risk, the seriousness of the potential harm, and the burden of taking precautions. His Honour concluded that the Council had failed to discharge its duty of care, finding that its inspection and maintenance procedures were inadequate, and that a reasonable council would have taken more proactive steps to assess and address the risk posed by the tree.

The court ordered that the plaintiff's claim be upheld, and that the defendant Council pay the plaintiff's costs.