Patiya’s family takes action against council

THE mother of the four-year-old killed by a fallen limb in Rosalind Park in December, 2013, is seeking damages from the City of Greater Bendigo.

Kristy Thomson – the mother of Patiya May Schreiber – filed the writ in the Supreme Court through her lawyers on Monday, seeking compensation for the death of her daughter.

Specific details of the amount of damages sought will be provided as the hearing progresses.

The writ claims negligence on behalf of the council, including failure to remove the tree, failure to prune the tree and inadequate above ground inspections.

There are further claims the risk posed by the tree was not adequately assessed, and the City of Greater Bendigo failed to have a proper inspection system.

The writ places its specific blame on an inspection on September 19, 2013 – three months before the fatal incident.

“At the 19 September 2013 inspection of the tree, the arborist employed by the defendant inspected the tree from the ground, did not conduct an above ground inspection of the tree and incorrectly assessed the tree as being structurally sound,” it was written.

“Between the… inspection of the tree and the incident, no further inspection of tree was carried out by the defendant; no pruning or other remedial work in respect of the tree was carried out.”

The limb fell on December 30, 2013, killing Patiya and seriously injuring Ms Thomson.

A coronial inquest finalised earlier this month found an above ground inspection of the gum tree would likely have uncovered problems with the limb, and would have led to its pruning or removal.

The inquest found the City of Greater Bendigo’s lack of a management plan was not a “causal factor”.

Council chief executive officer Craig Niemann said solicitors were yet to be issued with court proceedings.

“However, if the matter is before the Court, it would be inappropriate for the City to make any comment in relation to this matter,” he said.

A date is yet to be set to begin formal proceedings.