170 members of The Pines club who sued tycoon win nominal amount
Nominal damages awarded in lawsuit over The Pines club's relocation from Stevens Road to Tanah Merah
A total of 170 members of The Pines club who sued motoring tycoon Peter Kwee and his company for relocating the club from Stevens Road to shared facilities in Tanah Merah have each won nominal damages of $1,500.
The plaintiffs had sought damages of more than $110,000 each, alleging deceit, negligence and negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract.
High Court judge Chua Lee Ming yesterday found Mr Kwee's company Exklusiv Resorts liable only for breach of contract.
IMPLIED TERMS
The judge said Exklusiv had breached implied terms in the membership contract.
Among other things, the terms implied that rules cannot be changed to allow the club to be situated outside the central area of Singapore.
Justice Chua said he awarded nominal damages because the plaintiffs failed to prove that they had suffered any loss.
The club is owned by Exklusiv Resorts, of which Mr Kwee is a director and indirect shareholder.
From 2003 to 2012, the club suffered an estimated loss of $61 million due to low membership. It had only 1,490 members in 2012, short of Mr Kwee's target of 8,000.
In June 2011, Exklusiv engaged architects to draw up plans for the redevelopment of the site.
The proposal included two blocks of hotels and a four-storey clubhouse.
In March 2013, Exklusiv confirmed with members its redevelopment plans after provisional permission was granted by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
That month, it granted Oxley Holdings subsidiary Oxley Gem an option to purchase the site for $318 million. The option also provided that Exklusiv had the first right of refusal to lease from Oxley Gem the part of the development that comprised club facilities.
In September 2013, Exklusiv told club members that the clubhouse would cease operations on Nov 1, 2013, and that the construction schedule would be extended.
But by late 2015, it became apparent that it was impossible to build and operate the envisioned new clubhouse due to URA's gross floor area restrictions and insufficiency of parking spaces.
In March 2016, Exklusiv amended the club's rules to allow it to relocate the club and clubhouse.
Eventually, Exklusiv decided to relocate the club to Laguna National Golf and Country Club. Group Exklusiv, also owned by Mr Kwee, bought over Laguna in 2001.
Members who were unhappy with the relocation filed a representative action against Mr Kwee and Exklusiv in 2019.
They sought a declaration that the changes to the rules were invalid.
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