Geographe Point Pty Ltd and Town Of Claremont

Geographe Point Pty Ltd challenged the decision of the Town of Claremont to refuse their development application for the alteration of roofs on several approved houses. The case was heard by the Western Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (WCAT). The applicant argued that the Town of Claremont did not genuinely attempt to make a decision on the merits of the application, and that there were delays in considering the application. The respondent argued that they had acted properly and that any delays were not unreasonable.

The Tribunal considered whether the Town of Claremont genuinely attempted to make a decision on the merits of the application, whether there were any delays in consideration, and whether the Tribunal should award costs. The Tribunal found that the respondent had not genuinely attempted to make a decision on the merits of the application, and that there were delays in consideration. However, the Tribunal found that the delays were not unreasonable and that the respondent had not acted in bad faith.

The Tribunal ordered that each party was to pay its own costs of the proceedings. The Tribunal found that the applicant's application for costs was not successful as the respondent had not acted in bad faith, and that the respondent's application for costs was also not successful as the delays were not unreasonable. The Tribunal noted that the respondent had an erroneous understanding of their role in relation to the application, but found that this did not amount to bad faith.