“I can easily point out dozens of very unstable and potentially life-threatening trees along our roadsides here in Bellingen Shire,” he wrote in his claim for damages. “I believe council is not protecting the users of our roads effectively.”

Tim had been eyeing off the dead wattle that hit his Toyota Landcruiser for the last three years, wondering when it was going to fall.

During last month’s wet weather, he was driving along Hydes Creek Rd at about 60 kph when the wattle crashed to the ground right in front of him.

Luckily it didn’t come through the windscreen and injure him, but he did plough straight into it, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to his car.

The vehicle wasn’t comprehensively insured, as he couldn’t afford the premiums, and he says it won’t pass rego when that comes around in March, so he’s not sure how he will manage to keep working and driving his 12-year-old daughter to and from school.

Tim has lived in Bellingen Shire for almost 40 years, and does various jobs, including tree lopping and firewood supply.

He carries a chainsaw in his vehicle and as a community service he will often stop and clear the road of debris.

“In the last six months, I’ve cut up and removed three trees that have fallen down and blocked the road, so that cars can get past,” he said.

This makes it all the more disappointing, he says, that council rejected his request for reimbursement, stating that it has undertaken regular tree works on Hydes Creek Rd, within the constraints of its budget and according to its rolling capital works program, and does not believe that it has been negligent, nor that it has any legal liability for the damage to his car.

“Who’s responsible then?” Tim wants to know. “Do I just dip out and have no car, and I’ve got to walk to school with my child, seven kilometres to town?”

After receiving the rejection letter, he returned to the site of the accident, which happened near 615 Hydes Creek Rd, about 150m uphill of the Little Hydes Creek Rd turnoff.

“I went down there last night and this morning and photographed 14 more trees within one kilometre of where that one fell on me,” Tim said.

“Some of them are bigger than the one that fell on me, and they’re going to kill somebody.”