Hi Stumped,
Yes, from our experience it seems council and LEP is the way to go. We have had an ongoing problem in our strata block for several years with an owner who runs an online short term holiday letting business. Our block is on Sydney’s Lower North Shore and is exclusively zoned residential. We also have a special by-law in place prohibiting any rental for periods of less than six months. This owner repeatedly flouted this and other by-laws. Recently he recruited the owners of another unit who ‘let’ their unit through his agency over the Christmas holidays to a series of overseas holidaymakers. The EC were basically lied to and told that ‘guests’ would be occupying the unit while the owners were away. Our strata manager was reluctant to act, even obstructive, because he feared “legal action” from the perpetrators. The end result is our EC secretary contacted our local council for clarification. They obliged us with a letter to all residents warning of the consequences of breaches against zoning regulations under LEP laws. This seems to have produced the desired effect in the selfish parasites who indulged in this practice. Nevertheless we remain ever vigilant.
Cheers