Parramatta City Council v Watkins

(2001) 35 MVR 102; [2001] NSWCA 364

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Tort
2. › Negligence
3. › Pedestrian injured by fall on road
4. › Whether road surface constituted unreasonable hazard
5. › Whether council should have taken steps to alleviate danger
6. › 50mm drop between road surface and manhole cover in designated parking area
1. Local Government
2. › Roads
3. › Duty of care to pedestrians
4. › Road resurfacing creating danger at manhole cover
5. › Whether council negligent in failing to grade road surface or notify responsible authority
6. › Roads Act 1993 (NSW), ss 98, 99
1. Appeal
2. › Standard of appellate review
3. › Appeal from findings of fact by trial judge
4. › Whether findings were open on the evidence

Quick Take

A 50mm sudden drop between a road surface and a manhole cover within a designated parking area, where the change in level is not obvious and may be obscured by parked vehicles, is capable of constituting an unreasonable hazard for which a council may be liable in negligence. Evidence of a comparable nearby location where the transition was made more gradual is sufficient to establish that the council could have done the work differently, shifting an evidentiary onus to the council to show that remedial measures would have been onerous.