Tree disputes - At the first directions hearing

Venue, date and time

The date for the preliminary hearing will be fixed by the Court at the time the application was filed. The date will correspond with the next available preliminary hearing after the expiry of the statutory period of 21 days for service of the application. This will usually be 4 to 6 weeks after filing of the application.

The preliminary hearing will usually be conducted by a registrar of the Court either in a Court in the court’s building at 225 Macquarie Street, Sydney or by a telephone conference call for those persons outside Sydney or in the outer Sydney metropolitan area.

The location of the Court and the precise time of the day when the directions hearing will occur will be shown on the Court Lists posted on a notice board in the foyer of the court’s building and on the Court’s website under Court Lists in the afternoon of the day before the preliminary hearing. The Sydney Morning Herald may also (but does not always) publish the Court Lists on the morning of the date set for the preliminary hearing.

Completed minute of proposed directions

The applicant and the neighbour are to hand to the Court, or advise the Court on the telephone, the agreed or their own versions of a minute of the directions they propose should be made to prepare the matter for the final hearing. These should be based on the usual directions on the preliminary hearing for tree applications in Schedule A and the supplementary directions for an order to prevent injury to any person in Schedule B to the Practice Note.

Making and recording directions

The Registrar will make directions, generally in accordance with the usual directions at the preliminary hearing, including fixing the date, time and venue for the final hearing. The Registrar will state the directions orally.  A written copy of the directions made will be provided by the Court to the parties who are in court or otherwise posted to the parties.