Delaware v. The City of Westminster ([2001] UKHL 55) is a British court ruling on the disruption, handling questions of liability to repair damage caused by tree roots. The court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, stating that if the defendant knew about a continuous disruption (in this case, cracking caused by a tree root), and had been given notice and opportunity to resolve it but failed to do so, the plaintiff was entitled to receive a fee for removing the disturbance itself. This is a prominent case, and has not been replaced or canceled by subsequent appraisals.
Delaware is the last case in which Lord Cooke of Thorndon sits as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He joined Lord Steyn, Lord Browne-Wilkinson, and Lord Hutton.
Video Delaware Mansions Ltd v City of Westminster
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Freehold owners of Delaware Mansions, a flat block on Delaware Road, Maida Vale (on 51,526224Ã,  ° N 0, 190482Ã,  ° W / 51.526224; -0.190482 ), has received crack complaints in the building in 1989. Inspection engineer the Winter concludes that this is due to the roots of a large plane tree outside the London building, and recommends it to be removed; if it can not be eliminated, then the foundation will require a foundation. The second report a year later made the same conclusion, with more urgency. Finally, in October 1991, the Westminster Council - the owner of the tree - cut back its roots, and until January-July 1992 Flecksun - the holders of free rights - undertook a structural foundation program to stabilize the building. The total cost for Flecksun only reached over  £ 570,000, and they sued Westminster, as tree owner, in compensation.
This problem was complicated by the fact that, until June 1990 - just before Westminster was first notified of the damage - the ownership of the land was owned by Church Commissioners; the sale does not contain any mention of the right to legal action for harassment. Westminster argues that if they are liable, then Flecksun can only claim "fresh" compensation caused by the tree after transfer; only the Commissioner can claim damages.
The case was initially heard by the Official Referee Court, where the QC Wood Cranber Recorders rejected claims of Flecksun (as well as Delaware Holdings, its parent company). Flecksun brought the case to the High Court, where a panel of judges (Beldam, Pill, and Thorpe) appealed, allowing Flecksun to claim damage of  £ 570,000 along with a further Ã,  £ 265,000 in interest. Westminster appealed, sending the case to the House of Lords.
Maps Delaware Mansions Ltd v City of Westminster
References
- The full text of the verdict, [2001] UKHL 55
Further reading
- Neyers, Jason W. (2002). "Lord Cooke of Thorndon's Last Appeal". Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal . 2 (2): 265-270 (6).
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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