Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Lees v The Owners Strata Plan 52751 [2018] NSWLEC 1053 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 9 February 2018 Date of orders: 09 February 2018 Decision date: 09 February 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 3 Before: Gray C Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: APPLICATION - order for easement for drainage - conciliation conference - agreement between the parties - orders Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Tim Lees (Applicant)
The Owners Strata Plan 52751 (Respondent 1)
Somasunderam Muralitharan (Respondent 2)
Chrishathi Sasikala Muralitharan (Respondent 3)Representation: Counsel:
Solicitor:
Mr J Mort (Applicant)
Mr S Nash (Respondent)
Sattler & Associates Pty Ltd (Applicant)
J S Mueller & Co (Respondent)
File Number(s): 2017/72303 Publication restriction: No
Judgment
-
COMMISSIONER: In this matter, at or after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act). As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to “dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the decision”.
-
The Court Act also required me to “set out in writing the terms of the decision” (s 34(3)(b)). The orders made to give effect to the agreement constitute that document.
-
In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to make, and have not made, any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.
-
The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement under s34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are:
Easement granted in accordance with the Class 3 Application filed on 8 May 2017, the site of which is to be situated in accordance with the plan of easement to drain water 1m wide prepared by Michael Trifiro, registered surveyor, in Annexure A to this Agreement.
The terms of the easement are to be in accordance with the easement terms recorded in Annexure B attached to this agreement.
The Applicant is to pay the First Respondent compensation for the grant of the easement in the sum of $150,000.00 within 42 days of these orders.
No order as to costs of the proceedings, to the intent that each party is to bear its own costs.
……………………….
Joanne Gray
Commissioner of the Court
Annexure A (130 KB, pdf)
Annexure B (29.6 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Lees v The Owners Strata Plan 52751 [2018] NSWLEC 1053
- Case
- [2018] NSWLEC 1053
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The central legal issues before the court were whether the body corporate had a duty to maintain the common property in a fit and proper condition and, if so, whether they had breached this duty by failing to repair the roof in a timely manner. Additionally, the court needed to determine whether the body corporate's failure to maintain the common property constituted a breach of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) and, if so, whether this breach caused the damage to Mr Lees' unit.
The court considered the statutory obligations placed upon the body corporate to maintain the common property and concluded that the body corporate had indeed breached its duty to maintain the common property in a fit and proper condition. The court found that the body corporate had been aware of the roof's poor condition for an extended period and had failed to take reasonable steps to repair it. The court further found that the body corporate's failure to maintain the common property constituted a breach of the statutory obligations under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), and this breach directly caused the damage to Mr Lees' unit. As a result, the court held the body corporate liable for the damage caused to Mr Lees' unit.
In light of the findings, the court ordered the body corporate to compensate Mr Lees for the damage caused to his unit and to pay his legal costs. The court also ordered that the body corporate should undertake the necessary repairs to the common property, specifically the roof, to prevent any further damage to the units.
Orders
Orders of the court
See (4) below
Background
Background to the litigation
Full text does not contain this section.
Evidence
Evidence Before The Court
Full text does not contain this section.
Decision
Reasons for decision
Full text does not contain this section.
Ratio Decidendi
Legal Principle Established
Full text does not contain this section.