TIPENE and THE OWNERS OF STRATA PLAN NO 9495

The applicants, TIPENE and the Owners of Strata Plan No 9495, sought leave to amend their application for review of a decision of the Strata Company to approve an application for alterations to the structures on their respective lots. The Strata Company had refused to approve the applicants' proposal to demolish the existing rear units on their lots and construct new units in their place. The applicants sought to amend their application to more accurately reflect the resolution they had put to the Strata Company. The respondents, the Strata Company and the other owners of lots in the Strata Plan, opposed the amendment on the basis that the applicants could not seek approval for alterations when what they were really seeking was approval for demolition. The applicants argued that the word 'alteration' in section 7(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) could include demolition, and that the amendment was necessary to bring the application before the Tribunal in line with the resolution put to the Strata Company.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the word 'alteration' in section 7(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) could include demolition. The Tribunal considered the relevant sections and definitions of the Act, including section 3, which defines 'alteration' as 'any change to a structure that is not a structural erection or an extension', and section 7(2), which restricts the erection, alteration or extension of structures on a lot without the approval of the Strata Company. The Tribunal also considered the purpose of the Act, which is to facilitate the horizontal and vertical subdivision of land and the disposition of titles thereto. The Tribunal held that the word 'alteration' in section 7(2) could include demolition, as the purpose of the Act is to regulate changes to structures on lots in a strata scheme, whether those changes involve erection, alteration or demolition. The Tribunal allowed the amendment to the application to ensure that it accurately reflected the resolution put to the Strata Company, and recognised that the proposed redevelopment sought approval to demolish some of the current buildings followed by the construction of new buildings.

The final orders of the Tribunal were that the applicants' application be amended as sought, and that the Strata Company be directed to approve the applicants' proposal to demolish the existing rear units on their lots and construct new units in their place. The Tribunal also ordered that the Strata Company pay the applicants' costs of the application for review, and that the applicants pay the respondents' costs of the application for leave to amend.