Tony, I know this is going to sound weird but i would find these latest moves encouraging. Your EC is clearly trying to prevent a meeting from taking place so you have ask yourself why. They are also giving you what I think is false information. Again, why?
On the question of false information, I have never heard of this business of proxies only being valid after a meeting has been called and an agenda set. The official proxy form – which must be used – allows the proxy to be given for a period of time and a number of meetings. How can it be used if the future meetings for which it is valid haven’t been called? Have a look at the form – you can download it HERE. You’ll see it doesn’t specify for which meeting(s) it’s valid.
Secondly, even if the meeting goes ahead and you are outvoted, that puts the EC and your neighbours’ cronies in a very tricky position. Once they have rejected your application, you can go to NCAT (formerly the CTTT) and seek an order under section 158 which says …
(1) An Adjudicator may make an order prescribing the making … of a by-law if the Adjudicator finds:
(a) on application made by an owner, that the owners corporation has unreasonably refused to make a by-law of the kind referred to in section 51 …
(2) In considering whether to make an order under this section, an Adjudicator must have regard to:
(a) the interests of all owners in the use and enjoyment of their lots and common property, and
(b) the rights and reasonable expectations of any owner deriving or anticipating a benefit under a by-law of the kind referred to in section 51.
NB: Section 51 lays down the ground rules for creating exclusive use by-laws, including who will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of common property affected by any work that is done.
OK, so what do you do next?
If everything you’ve told us is true, my tactic would be to write a letter to all owners, along these lines:
How your EC could waste thousands of YOUR dollars to benefit one owner.
Dear neighbour,
I am an owner resident in Lot XX and I have been trying in vain to be allowed to install exactly the same window shutters as many of you already have. I am prepared to use exactly the same design and colours as everyone else and I am prepared to undertake the maintenance and repair of the shutters and the common property to which they are attached, as required by strata law.
I want to do this to make my home more comfortable at those times when the sun would otherwise shine directly into it. This is a simple facility that many of you already enjoy.
Unfortunately, my shutters would occasionally intrude to a minimal extent into the unobstructed view that a neighbour currently enjoys. The owner is a member of your Executive Committee which has delayed and reject my application at every turn.
The result, in a nutshell, is that my family has to bake in the sunshine so that he can enjoy his view completely unfettered.
In a few weeks, we will hold a general meeting at which I have been warned the owner already has gathered sufficient votes to reject the request again. He only needs 25 percent of people voting at the meeting in person or by proxy to reject the motion.
I need your proxy vote to make sure this doesn’t happen and to avoid the waste of thousands of dollars of your money.
If the meeting rejects what I truly believe is a fair and reasonable request, I have several avenues open to me to pursue this issue, all of which, unfortunately, will be at considerable cost to you, the owners of this building.
If the by-law is rejected, I intend to pursue a Section 158 order at NCAT (formerly the CTTT) compelling the Owners Corporation to pass a by-law that is fair to me and to the majority of owners.
If they defend it, your EC will have to spend an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in strata manager and legal fees, preparing a submission which, I have been advised, has little chance of success. FYI, the maximum cost to me will be less than $160 as I already have all the documents I require to make a compelling case.
What we are looking at is an utter waste of your money and the EC and strata manager’s time trying to block a perfectly reasonable request that is to the minimal detriment of only one owner.
The alleged “intrusion” is only marginal, temporary and much less than many of you already seem able to cope with. And, as we are often told by planners and real estate professionals, nobody owns the view.
So I implore you to send me your proxy vote on the attached form. If I have enough votes at the upcoming meeting we will be able to stop this nonsense now before it gets any uglier and more expensive.
I am happy to discuss this in detail with any of you and have detailed drawings and pictures to show how my plans fit in perfectly with the rest of the building and how they are only the slightest intrusion into my neighbours view. {Add contact details here}
Now, at this point I have to stress that I am not a lawyer and I obviously am not aware of all the minutiae surrounding this matter. All I can say is if I were in your shoes and the facts were as presented here, this is what I would do.
Also, I don’t know your neighbours and how they would respond to the implied threat. If they hate squabbling and resent being told what to do, the letter may be counter-productive.
On the other hand, in many buildings a lot of people are glad to get a chance to have a kick at the EC for past slights, real or imagined. Only you can decide which way to go.
But go ahead with the meeting because it’s harder to argue that your application has been rejected if a general meeting hasn’t rejected it.
Best of luck.