Strand Park Hotel [2009] QBCCMCmr 53 (17 February 2009)

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

I hereby order that Mr Seimon Griffiths is appointed as Administrator to call, hold, and chair an extraordinary general meeting of Strand Park Hotel Body Corporate within 3 months from the date of this order. The Administrator shall hold the appointment for the period beginning on the date of this order until the close of the meeting ordered to be held.

I further order that for the purposes of calling and chairing the meeting, the Administrator shall have all the powers of chairperson, secretary and treasurer of the Body Corporate and of the committee, with the exception of the following powers
-To further delegate any of those powers to another person; and

-To incur any expenditure apart from that reasonably necessary for the calling and holding of the meeting, and apart from expenses that must necessarily be met and are capable of being authorised and incurred by a committee under the legislation.
I further order that the Administrator, shall prepare an agenda for the meeting and shall issue a notice of the meeting.
I further order that the meeting must be held at least 7 days after notice of the meeting is given to the owners of the lots included in the scheme and, except as provided in this order, the meeting must be called and held in accordance with the Act and the Accommodation Module.

The purpose of this Order and Statement of Reasons is to replace an earlier Order dated 11 February 2009. In that order I appointed Mr Seimon Griffiths of Northern Body Corporate Management to act as Administrator to call and hold an annual general meeting for this scheme. However, it has subsequently come to my attention that the applicant is seeking the appointment of Mr Griffiths to call and hold an extraordinary general meeting. Accordingly this replacement order refers to “extraordinary general meeting” instead of “annual general meeting”.

Strand Park Hotel was registered as a building format plan of subdivision in April 2008 and consists of 31 lots. It is regulated by the Body Corporate and Community Management (Accommodation Module) Regulation (the Accommodation Module).

This application was lodged on 22 January 2009 by the body corporate which is seeking the following Final Outcome:

For Northern Body Corporate Management to call and hold an extraordinary general meeting so that a new committee may be elected.

The applicant states that until recently all lots in the scheme were owned by a company which is contracted as the caretaking service contractor and letting agent. As the sole owner representatives of the company previously held all committee positions.

As a number of lots have now been sold to individual owners and the company nominees are not permitted to be committee members, it has been proposed that an extraordinary general meeting be held for the purposes of appointing a new committee. However with no committee in place there is no-one who is entitled to call the EGM.

Accordingly the applicant seeks an order that an adjudicator issue an order that Northern Body Corporate Management be permitted to call and hold an extraordinary general meeting so a new committee may be elected. Numerous lot owners have indicated their support for the application.

Section 276(1) of the Act provides that an adjudicator may make an order that is just and equitable in the circumstances (including a declaratory order) to resolve a dispute, in the context of a community titles scheme, about-
(a) a claimed or anticipated contravention of the Act or the community management statement; or (b) the exercise of rights or powers, or the performance of duties, under the Act or the community management statement; or
(c) a claimed or anticipated contractual matter about-
(i) the engagement of a person as a body corporate manager or service contractor for a community titles scheme; or
(ii) the authorisation of a person as a letting agent for a community titles scheme.

An adjudicator's order may contain ancillary and consequential provisions the adjudicator considers necessary or appropriate (section 284(1)). Specifically, without limiting the power of an adjudicator to make an order under section 276(1), an adjudicator may make an order
... appointing an administrator, and authorising the administrator to perform
(a) obligations of the body corporate, its committee, or a member of the committee under this Act or the community management statement; or
(b) obligations of the body corporate under another Act.

Section 301 of the Act provides:
301 Appointment of administrator
(1) This section applies if an order is made under this chapter appointing an administrator.
(2) The administrator has the powers given to the administrator under the order.
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the power may include power to levy a special contribution against the owners of lots included in a community titles scheme to meet the cost of complying with obligations to which the order relates and the costs of the administration.
(4) The order may
(a) withdraw all or particular stated powers from the body corporate, a body corporate manager to whom a power has been given under section 119 or 120, or stated officers of the body corporate
until the administrator has taken the necessary action to secure compliance with the obligations; and
(b) require officers of the body corporate or a body corporate manager mentioned in paragraph (a) to take stated action to help perform the work the administrator is required to perform; and
(c) fix the administrator’s remuneration.
(5) The administrator’s remuneration is to be paid out of the funds of the body corporate.
(6) This section does not apply to the enforcement of a monetary obligation of the body corporate arising under another Act unless it is an enforceable money order.

The statutory requirements regarding the holding of a general meeting are set out in Chapter 4 of the Regulation Module which provides that a meeting must be held each year after notice of the meeting is given to all lot owners. The notice must state the time and place of the proposed meeting and each member should also be provided with an agenda for the meeting, a proxy form and a voting paper. The body corporate must also prepare an administrative and sinking fund budget each financial year. The budgets forecast anticipated expenditure and form the basis for setting the annual contributions payable by the owner of each lot, to the administrative and sinking funds.

In circumstances where a body corporate is unable to call a general meeting because there is no committee, an adjudicator is entitled to make an order appointing an administrator for the limited purpose of calling and holding a general meeting of the body corporate. Having regard to the circumstances detailed in the application I propose to make the following orders:

Number of Scheme:	30242
Name of Scheme:	Strand Park Hotel
Address of Scheme:	59 The Strand NORTH WARD QLD 4810

Queensland Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner - Adjudicators Orders

Strand Park Hotel [2009] QBCCMCmr 53 (17 February 2009)