Hi Paddy, re “The issue appears to be one of common sense”. All strata living owners and OCs rely upon informal agreements as much as formal or legal agreements to find the practical rules that work for their property.
I find that when it comes to the law there is NO common sense. If there is to be common sense applied it is up to the OC. Although what you may see as common sense others may see as benefiting at the expense of other owners.That is why I believe searching for a resolution thru bylaws or a ruling will only get you one of the resolutions that scotlandx or Whale has alluded to.
Our strata plan has a similar issue which I have commented on previously. Most here haven’t agreed with our resolution. In short some our issue is: some owners have a common property area directly outside their garage. This area can only be used by the relevant owners and them using it does not (in a practical sense) cause others a nuisance or deprive anyone else of the use of common property.
The only reason those owners have been tolerated to use the common property area directly outside their garages is that they could show that because of the lack of common parking and visitor parking areas there was a benefit to all owners.
Depending upon the personalities and unique circumstances of your strata unless you can draw up convincing arguments the avenues outlined by scotlandx or Whale are the only way to go.
So I guess I am asking or recommending, can you draw convincing arguments why you shouldn’t strictly enforce the law?