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[bluehouse]

I am the secretary of a strata committee in NSW and I’d like to know on what grounds owners can object to passing a special bylaw for an addition.

We have an owner who wants to do what to her seems a simple addition to her townhouse.  The more we look into it the more she is going to have to do to have it approved – special by-law, engineers report, DA (not Complying Certificate) and all that it involves… All of which are genuine requirements, not raised for the purpose of making trouble for her.  She has never even been to any meetings of any sort yet – these are just the things that have arisen so far from Strata Legislation and Council requirements. 

Once she has met all these requirements and we have a vote at a General Meeting on what grounds can people object?  I am concerned that she will have done all this and gone to considerable expense (possibly exceeding the cost of the actual work) and her additions will be turned down on the whim of some owners for reason other than the best interests of the Strata Scheme.  In NSW are we required to have reasonable grounds to object to a special by-law for an alteration?

There are a few good reasons why people could object and I keep trying, on a friendly basis (not in my capacity as secretary) to suggest she should address them before the vote, so it will be her own fault if she is turned down on those grounds.  

But it seems very unfair for her to go to those lengths and be turned down on the grounds of individuals resentment/jealously/resistance to change/racism/intolerance/personal beliefs about how others should live/deluded personal beliefs about how buildings stand up….whatever.  

Its very likely someone has already asked and answered this question in some other form but I can’t find the answer so I apologise if so.

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