Threadgate v Tamworth City Council

Threadgate (the plaintiff) brought proceedings against Tamworth City Council (the defendant) in negligence concerning injuries sustained from a fall on a nature strip adjacent to a public footpath. The plaintiff alleged the fall was caused by a defect in the nature strip.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the established common law rule that a public authority is not liable for damage caused by its mere nonfeasance (failure to act) applies to the maintenance of nature strips, or if such areas are to be treated differently from public roads and footpaths. The plaintiff contended that the Council owed a duty of care to maintain the nature strip in a safe condition, and its failure to do so constituted misfeasance, not nonfeasance.

The Court of Appeal, applying established principles of negligence concerning public authorities, held that the nonfeasance rule applied to nature strips in the same way it applied to public roads and footpaths. The Court reasoned that the Council's failure to repair or maintain the nature strip, even if it created a hazard, was a failure to act rather than an act of misfeasance. Therefore, the Council was not liable for the plaintiff's injuries.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.