Purcell v The Owners Strata Plan No 908; The Owners Strata Plan No 908 v Purcell

The case of Purcell v The Owners Strata Plan No 908; The Owners Strata Plan No 908 v Purcell involved a dispute between the plaintiff and the strata title owners over various issues, including alleged breaches of strata plan rules, misuse of common property, and damages for alleged nuisance. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The court was tasked with resolving the parties' competing applications for costs, given that no contested hearing occurred on the merits of the disputes.

The central legal issue before the court was the appropriate exercise of discretion in relation to the allocation of costs in proceedings where consent orders were made and no contested hearing took place. The court had to consider whether the absence of a contested hearing on the merits, in the absence of any special circumstances, warranted an order that each party bear their own costs.

The court held that the absence of a contested hearing on the merits of the disputes did not constitute a special circumstance that would justify deviating from the general rule that each party bears their own costs. The court noted that the consent orders had resolved the substantive disputes and that there was no evidence of any unusual or exceptional circumstances that would warrant an order for costs. Consequently, the court dismissed the applications for costs by both parties and ordered that each party bear their own costs of the proceedings.

The final orders of the court were that the applications for costs by the parties in the proceedings constituted by file numbers SC 23/10509, SC 23/10510, and SC 23/21771, were dismissed. Additionally, the court made a specific order that there would be no order as to costs, with the intent that each party is to bear their own costs of the proceedings.