tim76 said: Do we wait till we get taken to NCAT and present our case of why we want to keep the plants (privacy, noise, shading) and hope that the tribunal is sympathetic or will they just slap us with a $550 fine? (we are in NSW).
YES wait – and remember that fines, even for matters of much greater significance than yours, are as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth, and that depending upon the height of your plantings relative to the stratum of your lot (which varies from one Plan to another) the NCAT would give favourable consideration to Memorandum No AG520000 issued by NSW Land & Property Information to the effect that the costs of trimming/lopping plantings with a height in excess of the stratum of the lot is the responsibility of the O/C, and with only the responsibility for then maintaining that trimmed height being with the lot owner.