Darryl Leigh v Careylee Partridge

The Community Schemes Ombud Service received an application for dispute resolution dated 15 August 2023 in a matter between Darryl Leigh and Careylee Partridge. The application concerned, at least in part, maintenance and repair issues. Before adjudication on the merits, the applicant requested that the application concerning maintenance and repair issues be provisionally withdrawn, as recorded in correspondence from the applicant dated 29 January 2024. The matter was being adjudicated under the amended Practice Directive for Dispute Resolution, 2019, and the parties had been given an opportunity to make final written submissions.

• Whether the matter should proceed to adjudication on the merits after the applicant requested provisional withdrawal.
• Whether the dispute should be removed from the adjudication roll and the file closed in the circumstances.

The matter was removed from the adjudication roll and the file was closed.

Where, in CSOS dispute resolution proceedings, the applicant requests withdrawal before the merits are determined, the adjudicator may remove the matter from the roll and close the file rather than adjudicating the underlying dispute.

No clear obiter dicta appear from the text. The order is brief and procedural, containing no additional non-binding observations.

The ruling is procedurally significant rather than substantively important. It illustrates that, within CSOS adjudication proceedings, where an applicant seeks withdrawal before a merits determination, the adjudicator may dispose of the matter by removing it from the roll and closing the file. No substantive legal principle on maintenance, repair, or scheme governance was decided.