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[jeff.f]

I am on the Executive Committee of my residential Strata Plan which includes a number of townhouses whose courtyards are situated along the edge of our property.

A number of our neighbour’s trees frequently drop overhanging branches and leaves into the courtyards of these townhouses.  Some of these branches are quite large and have the potential to injure residents and damage property.

We’ve had a few requests by residents for us to engage a tree lopper to trim overhanging tree branches.  This is a significant cost which has not been included within the budget for this year.

At the last AGM, the Owners Corporation adopted Memorandum AG520000 relating to who is responsible for items within a strata scheme.  Unfortunately, the memo appears vague as to our specific situation.

The only other thing I can relevantly identify is a note on our registered Strata Plan which says that “Except where covered, courtyards are limited in height to 5 metres above the upper surface of the ground floor concrete slab of their respective units immediately adjoining.”  This appears to indicate that an individual Lot includes the airspace up to 5 metres from the floor of a townhouse courtyard.  Would this therefore mean that anything above 5 metres be Common Property?

We would appreciate any comments or suggestions as to who should legally be responsible for trimming tree branches overhanging townhouse courtyards – (the individual Lot owner, or us as the Owners Corporation)?

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