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[Tenacious]

I purchased, in NSW, a one-bedder in 2019,just before Covid struck, an old-ish block of just 14 units.  I moved in in late 2020 and asked the then-strata manager (she and her agency have since closed shop) if I would be allowed to have a storage cage installed at my expense, in my car space (I have no car) free-standing but secured (glued) to floor, not fixed to walls, roof or pipes etc. It was my understanding that there was no objection, and when I finally had it installed last year, the then-OC Committee (of which I was a member, I am not now) seemed to have no objection and asked about price, delivery etc.
The problem seemed to happen when another owner asked if she too could have a storage cage installed to house her bikes; this seemed to cause a problem and I was told  that since I had no proof of acceptance (and needed a new By-Law for the çage to be legal)  I would have to dismantle it.  The newly voted OC committee chair has always seemed hostile to me (I ask too many questions, it seemed and challenged a mature tree being cut down without proper replacement as required by Council). I have since sold the cage to a farmer in rural NSW but he cannot come and dismantle it with the current petrol situation.  He is also losing interest (the lambs he planned to use it for for protection from feral dogs are now sheep!)  The now-empty cage is non-intrusive and fits the dimensions of my  car space, not, as I see it a problem  to any resident except the OC committee chair who slammed his door in my face when I tried to explain, politely the situation as it now stands.
What are my best options (I still would like to have use of the cage if it is not sold and would pay for a new  Strata By Law if required (if I do so, would other residents piggy back on that for their own cages?)
Could mediation help from the Tribunal?
Shouldn’t a OC Committee chair  (admittedly  allegedly neuro-diverse) be prepared to at least listen to a fellow resident?

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[Jimmy-T]

This is all a bit complicated, not least by the fact that you don’t want the cage any more.

There is another issue, which is that owners often think they have the right to build the cage to the edge of their parking space, which is not strictly true.  Parking spaces are designed with the assumption that the residents’ car doors can be opened over the adjoining spaces.  A cage on the boundary of the parking space doesn’t allow for that (not that I’m saying this is the case in your situation).

Then there’s the question of what’s allowed to be stored in the cage, and the visual impact of the cage, all of which leads many strata schemes to use their common property rights to ban storage cages altogether.

Given the non-communicative chair, I would now conduct all your communications in writing. Actually, this would be my advice in any circumstances.  Verbal agreements aren’t worth the paper they’r not printed on.

And given that you no longer require the cage, I would suggest you go on to AI (Chat-GPT or Claude.ai) and ask it to write a by-law compliant with NSW strata laws, that would allow you to keep the cage.  BTW, if you wanted to keep the cage, my advice would be to consult a lawyer about the by-law.

Then send the by-law to the secretary of the scheme and ask for it’s approval at the next General Meeting.  They will probably reject it, you can apply for mediation at NCAT, they will still say no but by then the war in Iran will be over, the Straits of Hormuz will be open, petrol prices will have returned to normal and there will be a whole new flock of lambs that require protection.

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[optusJo]

1. check the physical constraint – would the car next to you hit the cage?  Take pictures
2. get the person who also wanted the cage to do the same thing.
3. Write the letter – with pics and present it to the Chair.
4. Invite a reply.
5. Wait a month.
6. If no reply wait another month
7. repeat 6 until you get a written reply.
8. put in a motion for the AGM?

 

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