Rove Estate Pty Ltd atf Lane Cove Estate Trust v Chomp Excavations & Demolition Pty Ltd (No 3)

In the matter of Rove Estate Pty Ltd atf Lane Cove Estate Trust v Chomp Excavations & Demolition Pty Ltd (No 3), the plaintiffs sought damages for trespass and nuisance caused by the defendants and unidentified persons who drove onto their land and dumped waste. The defendants argued that they had consent or licence to do so, while the plaintiffs claimed there was no consent or licence. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The legal issues before the court were whether the defendants had permission to dump the waste, whether the person in possession of the land had the authority to grant such permission, whether the defendants had a licence to dump waste on the land, and whether the defendants contravened the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) by transporting and dumping waste on the land.

The court held that the defendants had no consent or licence to dump waste on the land, and the person in possession of the land had no authority to grant such permission. The court further held that the defendants contravened the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) by transporting and dumping waste on the land. The court found that the plaintiff suffered harm due to the defendants' trespass and that the harm was reasonably foreseeable. The court also held that the plaintiff's claim was an apportionable claim and a single apportionable claim within the meaning of s 34 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW). The court found that there was a rational basis for assessing the compensatory damages for the harm caused by each defendant's trespass, and the imprecision in the assessment did not prevent the court from making an award of damages. Finally, the court held that the plaintiff was entitled to exemplary damages for the defendants' conduct.

The court ordered the defendants to pay damages to the plaintiff for the harm caused by their trespass and nuisance. The court also ordered the defendants to pay exemplary damages to the plaintiff. The court further ordered that the plaintiff's claim was a single apportionable claim, and the defendants were severally liable for the whole of the costs incurred by Rove in cleaning up the total waste dumped by defendants and many unidentified persons.