St Lucia Shopping Village [2005] QBCCMCmr 349 (23 June 2005)

TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to an application made under the abovementioned Act by

I hereby order that Craig Hardy of State Wide Body Corporate Pty Ltd (appointee) is authorised to call, hold and chair an annual general meeting (meeting) of the body corporate for St Lucia Shopping Village.

I further order that this authorisation:

1. Commences on the date of this order and ceases in three months from the date of this order. However, the authorisation will cease immediately upon the appointment of a committee for St Lucia Shopping Village if that occurs earlier;
2. Allows the appointee to perform obligations of the committee or any member of the committee in respect of the calling, holding and chairing of the meeting, including incurring any reasonable costs of performing these obligations; and
3. Is subject to the appointee, as far as practicable, following the procedures in the Standard Module governing giving notice for and holding an annual general meeting. In particular, a notice requesting nominations for committee positions and submission of motions for consideration at the meeting must give owners at least three weeks to submit their nominations and motions. However, the giving of notices and the holding of the general meeting need not coincide with the end of financial year date of the body corporate.

STATEMENT OF ADJUDICATOR’S REASONS FOR DECISION - REF 0051-2005

"St Lucia Shopping Village" CTS 16119

St Lucia Shopping Village (SLSV) is a 24 lot scheme under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act (Act) and the Act’s Standard Module Regulation (Standard Module).

The owner of lot 10, Mark Walsh (applicant) has lodged an applicatoin stating that the body corporate is not operating in accordance with the legislation and that no annual general meeting has been held for over two years.

The submissions indicate that the scheme is not currently operating in accordance with the legislation. The legislation provides for the election of a committee to represent owners and for the replacement of committee members upon vacancies arising (Act 98-100, Standard Module 9-25). Further, annual general meetings must be held within three months after the end of each of the scheme’s financial years (Standard Module, 60).

The submissions indicate that there are numerous matters that need to be addressed. It would seem prudent that owners be given an opportunity to consider these matters in general meeting as well as be given the opportunity to appoint a committee to manage the day to day affairs of the body corporate. It appears from the submissions that there have been difficulties in finding sufficient owners who are willing to serve on the committee. However, enquiries have indicated that at least three owners would be willing to serve on the committee. These owners are Mark Anderson, Rex Sun and Mark Walsh. I note that the legislation recognises self-management as an inherent aspect of community titles schemes. It is important that owners take an active interest in the management of the scheme and encourage each other to serve on the committee.

I am satisfied that it is appropriate to grant an order authorising the appointee to call, hold and chair the meeting. The appointee is entitled to perform obligations of the committee or any committee member in this respect and those actions will be taken to be actions done by the committee or member (Act, 278). In calling this meeting, the appointee should follow the legislative procedures as far as practicable. However, owners should be given three weeks to submit nominations and motions and then the meeting should be called immediately rather than waiting for the end of financial year of the body corporate.

This authorisation is limited to allowing the appointee to call the meeting within a three month period. The authorisation will also immediately cease as soon as owners have elected a committee as required by the legislation (Act, 98-101). If owners want the continuing assistance of State Wide Body Corporate Pty Ltd throughout the year then a motion proposing appointment of that company to provide administrative assistance as body corporate manager will need to be put to the meeting and adopted by owners.

Alternatively, if insufficient owners are willing to serve on the committee, another meeting may need to be called at which owners can vote by secret ballot on whether to engage a body corporate manager to actually perform the functions of the committee instead of just providing administrative assistance (Standard Module, 37B).

The applicant has also sought a number of orders about review of contracts and insurance and other matters. I will not make any specific orders about these matters as the applicant can liaise with the appointee to submit any appropriate motions in this regard for consideration by owners in general meeting.

Number of Scheme:	16119
Name of Scheme:	St Lucia Shopping Village
Address of Scheme:	225 Hawken Drive ST LUCIA QLD 4069

Queensland Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner - Adjudicators Orders

St Lucia Shopping Village [2005] QBCCMCmr 349 (23 June 2005)