Collins v Clarence Valley Council

In *Collins v Clarence Valley Council*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal from a judgment in favour of the respondent council in a negligence claim brought by the appellant cyclist. The appellant sustained serious injuries when her bicycle's front wheel became lodged in a gap between planks on a wooden bridge, causing her to fall over low guard rails.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge had correctly identified the risk of harm for the purposes of section 5B of the *Civil Liability Act 2002* (NSW), and whether the risk that materialised was an "obvious risk" under section 5F(1) of the Act, thereby negating a duty to warn. The Court also considered whether the council's failure to erect a warning sign constituted an omission that no reasonable public authority could properly consider a reasonable exercise of its power under section 43A of the Act, and whether the council had actual knowledge of the risk to cyclists. Finally, the Court examined whether the appellant's argument regarding the council's failure to take other precautions in relation to the bridge surface amounted to a challenge to the council's general allocation of resources under section 42(b) of the Act.

The Court of Appeal upheld the primary judge's findings. It reasoned that the risk of harm identified by the primary judge was appropriate for the purposes of section 5B. Furthermore, the Court found that the risk of a bicycle wheel becoming caught in a gap between planks on a bridge, leading to a fall, was an obvious risk within the meaning of section 5F(1). Consequently, the council did not owe a duty to warn of such a risk. The Court also concluded that the council's actions, or inactions, in relation to the bridge did not fall within the ambit of section 43A, as its decisions were not demonstrably unreasonable. The Court found no evidence that the council had actual knowledge of the specific risk to cyclists.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.