Man forced to foot bill to save neighbour’s ‘stressed’ tree

The ‘wrong tree in the wrong place’ – a 35-metre or so Hoop Pine that caused neighbourly retaliation. A homeowner who dug a pool in his own backyard has been hit with a court order to pay thousands to save his neighbour’s tree that became ‘stressed’ because of it. In a ruling that should ring alarm bells for homeowners installing pools and outdoor structures on narrow suburban blocks, the homeowner has been hit with a damage bill after he installed a pool on his property – which stressed out the tree next door. And both neighbours have also been issued strict prohibition against “neighbourly retaliation” – with the state tribunal having to formally order them to collect and dispose of the tree’s litter that lands on their own properties at their own cost.The tree was there first, and is healthy – which saw it granted protection by the tribunal. Allen Edward Blundell told to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal during a hearing over the case that his practice of tossing collected seed pods, spiked seeds and pine needles over the boundary fence was inappropriate and agreed to stop immediately. This after Mr Blundell applied to QCAT demanding the complete removal of the se...