Landscaper pays $15 to property investor over weed dispute

A property developer sued a landscaper when weeds grew on his property
Just $15 was awarded in the case handed down by the Victorian tribunal
The developer was hoping to receive a payout of $1200 when he sued
The landscaper, developer and Council could have done better to prevent weeds

By Monica O’shea For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 15:27 GMT, 5 February 2018 | Updated: 17:45 GMT, 5 February 2018

An amusing $15 was awarded to a property developer when he sued for weeds growing on his property.

Developer Mark Callaghan hired landscaper Jonathon O’Brien to plant a special kind of turf at his investment property in Melbourne.

When weeds grew soon after all the work had been completed, the developer sued Mr O’Brien for $1200 to replace all the turf.

The tribunal found the nature strip should have been watered more to prevent weeds growing

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered Mr O’Brien to pay the tiny $15 for weed killer in late January.

Mr O’Brien told Domain ‘it could have broke me’ if he had to pay the $1200 the developer wanted.

‘I was ecstatic’ he told the publication.

The landscaper had generously planted extra turf outside the house to avoid wasting extra turf which was left over during the work.

The finding was handed down in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (pictured)

The tribunal found the nature strip should have been watered and weeded by the developer.

However, Mr O’Brien was also found to have failed kill the weeds under the soil before planting new turf.

The case was complicated by Council’s role digging up a section of the turf to work on the gutter.