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Campers sue over lethal branch fall
By Jewel Topsfield
May 13, 2004

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A caravan park at Barmah, in northern Victoria, is being sued for more than $1 million after one holiday maker was killed and another left brain damaged when they were struck by a falling branch from a river red gum.

Wendy Baldwin, of Koondrook, cried as she told the Supreme Court that she and her daughter, Megan Anwyl, were inside their caravan on January 25, 2001, when she heard a loud noise she thought was a clap of thunder.

When she opened the caravan door she found her husband, Ross Baldwin, and her son-in-law, Scott Anwyl, who had been sitting under the awning near the caravan crushed by a massive branch.

Mr Anwyl, 29, died the next day and Mr Baldwin, now 55, suffered severe brain injuries, which made him unemploy-able and unable to care for himself.

Mr Baldwin and Ms Anwyl are suing Segment Grange Pty Ltd, the operators of Barmah Caravan Park, and Moira Shire Council, the committee of management of the caravan park, for breach of duty of care.

Their lawyer, Jim Kennan, SC, said camping should have been prohibited under river red gums, which can shed limbs without warning.

He said the pair's claims included pain and suffering, loss of income, medical expenses, housing modifications and loss of support.

But Ross Gillies, for Segment Grange Pty Ltd, said the fami-lies were frequent visitors to the caravan park and well aware that falling branches were a hazard.

He said signs warning visitors of the risk posed by falling limbs from the park's 530 trees were at the entrance of the caravan park and in the office.

"There was nothing the proprietor of the park could do to avoid the accident, apart from shutting down the park," Mr Gillies said.

The trial, before Justice Robert Osborn, continues.

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I don't even live in Australia and I know not to camp under a River Red Gum. Isn't it common knowledge?

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Lovu Zdar
Mick

A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.

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