Legal blame game starting over 2014 death of golfer William Brown from falling African Mahogany branch on course

DARWIN Council, the company that runs Gardens Link Golf Course and a Tree Lopping firm have began the legal finger-pointing over the death of 2014 death of William “Bill” Brown, who died after being struck by a falling African Mahogany branch

William “Bill” Brown was killed by a falling African Mahogany tree branch

DARWIN Council, the company that runs Gardens Link Golf Course and a tree lopping firm have started the legal finger-pointing over the 2014 death of William “Bill” Brown, who died after being struck by a falling African Mahogany branch while playing golf.

The NT News revealed in July that Mr Brown’s family had started legal proceedings against the council and the two companies for “injury and loss” stemming from Mr Brown’s death.

In Supreme Court documents, released to the NT News, arborist Active Tree Services Pty Ltd claims African Mahogany trees are not uniquely dangerous and that it “discharged the standard of care reasonably expected ... of an arborist company carrying out the works”.

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“In some circumstances (African Mahoganys) are prone to sudden limb failure but (the company) says that all large trees are prone to sudden limb failure ...” the company’s defence says. The company says the branch that fell and hit Mr Brown looked unremarkable and “was no more likely to structurally fail than any other branch in the crown of the tree.”

The company says even if the branch had been trimmed, it would not have made the tree safer, and would have exposed people below to branches higher up, with “an increased free fall distance”.

Darwin Council says two of its managers spoke with golf course manager Roger Dee just under a month before the branch broke, and “identified risk issues with certain trees on the golf course following storm damage”, including the tree which claimed Mr Brown’s life.

The council says the company which operates the golf course, Perry Park Pty Ltd, was responsible for paying for trees to be removed and pruned.

The council also says it delegated “control and occupation of the golf course and trees growing on the golf course” to Perry Park.

The tree-lopping company, in turn, says it trimmed dead wood from the tree in March 2014 but that Perry Park never asked it to undertake any work on the branch that fell.

Following an inquest into Mr Brown’s death, Territory Coroner Greg Cavanagh said leaving the tree, “as it was, in the location in which it was, without any protective measures being put in place for patrons was, in the broader sense, negligent”.