NCAT moves fast to save trees

I think NCAT is fantastic and delivers Strata Committees, Building Management Committees, and Strata Managing Agents out of their bubble into the real world.

I had a situation where the Strata Committee tried to pass a motion, which would have given the Building Management Committee permission to cut down as many trees as it deemed necessary to repair and/or replace a boundary wall, of which a small section needed to be repaired.

The trees were 20 metres tall and spaned a busy street. Initially, the DA put into Council wanted to remove 21 of these heritage-listed fig trees. I was denied direct access to the Strata Committee and letterboxed them with my concerns.

One day before the Strata Meeting, I heard that the motion had passed in two neighbouring strata which share the same building management committee. I applied to NCAT on a Monday and received a phone call that afternoon requesting information to substantiate my interim application.

During the Strata meeting the next day at 9.45 a.m. NCAT placed an injunction to stop the removal of any trees. At the hearing on 17th July 2020, the Strata managing agent agreed to withdraw the motion in its entirety i.e. across all three strata, so I withdrew my application. To my knowledge and others living under the three strata, this withdrawal has still not happened.

As you can imagine, I am not very popular. On another note, I should mention that in line with the Strata Schemes Management Act, a lot owner on a neighbouring Strata nominated me onto their Strata Committee. Unfortunately, the day before the AGM, the Strata Managing Agent accessed their funds and made them unfinancial.

My fight with the Strata is ongoing but I am fortunate that we have a Strata Management Statement which outlines a dispute resolution process, which can keep things in house, before moving to NCAT. Thanks