The SC is not responsible for educating an owner. If the strata manager has advised the offender to submit a retrospective approval application and he decides that his letter is sufficient, then the committee should proceed to vote, refuse the request, and instruct the strata manager to issue a Notice to Comply. If he still refuses to comply, the matter would move to mediation and then NCAT. This would be the fastest path, and it is difficult to see how NCAT would support his position.
I agree. So is the problem that the committee members are dragging their feet? If so, I reckon a mediation application will get them moving. The committee tells the strata manager what to do, not the other way round, so the committee should issue a notice to comply now and get it over with.