Are you in NSW? Is not this a violation of Strata Schemes Management Act 2015?
Please look up Section 108 and Section 111 of the Act.
Owners cannot alter the external appearance of common property unless a SPECIAL RESOLUTION is passed at a general meeting.
This is more than asking the strata committee to approve it. This is asking ALL OWNERS to consider the application and vote. Special resolution means you must get 75% of all votes cast to pass the motion.
An owner can ask for retrospective approval but it is got to be a vote of the whole owners corporation. A single strata manager or strata committee should not approve it. There is a lot of people playing ignorant.