Lees v The Owners Strata Plan 52751

Case [2018] NSWLEC 1053


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:
Mr J Mort (Applicant)
Mr S Nash (Respondent)

Solicitor:
Sattler & Associates Pty Ltd (Applicant)
J S Mueller & Co (Respondent)
File Number(s): 2017/72303
Publication restriction: No

Judgment

  1. 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”.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement under s34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 are:

  1. 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.

  2. The terms of the easement are to be in accordance with the easement terms recorded in Annexure B attached to this agreement.

  3. 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.

  4. 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)

Details
AGLC
Lees v The Owners Strata Plan 52751 [2018] NSWLEC 1053
Case
[2018] NSWLEC 1053
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Lees v The Owners Strata Plan 52751, the dispute was between the lessee of a strata lot, Mr Lees, and the body corporate of the strata plan, the Owners Strata Plan 52751. The conflict arose when Mr Lees took legal action against the body corporate, claiming that they had failed to carry out essential maintenance on the common property, specifically the roof of the strata building, which had resulted in water leakage into his unit. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

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.