A new owner of townhouse no. 4 wishes to build another room with additional amenities in their courtyard… We held an extraordinary strata meeting with our strata manager and voted our preferences for this development. All motions were defeated… Consequently, the owner of unit 4 contacted the Fair Trading department and requested mediation. I would like to inquire how to resolve this matter in case it may be forwarded to the NSW Tribunal. – Diana, NSW

Q: I’m the owner of a townhouse in a boutique building of five townhouses. Our building has the following problem: A new owner of townhouse no. 4 wishes to build another room with additional amenities in their courtyard. All our townhouses have different layouts, separate private courtyards, each is surrounded by a brick wall, being separated from each other, SCEGS private school on one side, a free-standing house on the other side, and another free-standing house in a street below our property.

The owners of unit 2 (myself) and owners of unit 3 do not agree with the extension or rebuilt proposed. No development approval application has been submitted to the council as yet. We held an extraordinary strata meeting with our strata manager and voted our preferences for this development. All motions were defeated. Two owners voted against this development. Consequently, the owner of unit 4 contacted the Fair Trading department and requested mediation.

I would like to inquire how to resolve this matter in case it may be forwarded to the NSW Tribunal. Thank you in advance for your attention and valuable advice.

 

A: It may be best to ensure that your strata manager or strata committee secretary has records of the motions that were brought up and the outcomes of the vote during your extraordinary strata meeting.

Having these details captured in meeting minutes and documents can help you build a case with the NSW Tribunal that the owner’s request was fairly received and voted on at a meeting, but ultimately failed due to lack of support from the owners corporation.