THE State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) has given Radhika Oswal two weeks to stop her unfinished Peppermint Grove mansion from being demolished.
Mrs Oswal's lawyer Kelly Blatchford, standing in for hospitalised lawyer Julius Skinner, asked this morning for the order to be set aside to discuss renovations, repairs and a future building licence to complete the mansion.
On May 15, Mrs Oswal, who lives overseas, appealed a Shire of Peppermint Grove demolition order that her $70 million mansion " declared uninhabitable by the council last December " be pulled down.
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READ NOWConstruction work initially stopped on the property in 2011.
Miss Blatchford said formal notice of today's hearing had only arrived at her office yesterday, when Mr Skinner was admitted to hospital, and 14 more days were needed to get Mrs Oswal's advice on what was requested by the council's lawyers.
Miss Blatchford asked the demolition order be set aside
However, she claimed a licence would be impeded by covenants on the mansion, including an ATO freeze on Mrs Oswal's assets.
SAT senior member Morris Spillane told Miss Blatchford he was going to give her "a long list of homework so we don't waste 14 days".
Mr Spillane also said he wanted to know in two weeks how the covenants affected getting the licence.
He told council lawyer Digby Robinson that he "didn't get away scott-free either", and instructed the council to provide more information about why it wanted the mansion demolished.
Outside the SAT, Mr Robinson said the claim of late notification about the hearing had been taken "at face value".
"What we want is a road map for the completion of this matter within a credible time frame," he said.
SAT will next hear the Oswals and the council at noon on June 9.