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Our strata of 36 in Sydney is about half let and half owner-occupied. Historically, owners have been mostly apathetic and uninvolved, leaving the managing of the building to a small but sensible (now called) Strata Committee of resident owners and one or two ‘involved’ landlord owners. We have a Strata Manager.
Recently a group of newer, younger owners took control of the Committee at an AGM and cleverly got approval for an expensive but appalling, tasteless alteration to Common Property in the form of a pathway creating a thoroughfare through what was previously a peaceful garden outlook. It’s like an expressway cutting a swathe through a rainforest. The character of the building has changed for the worse. Little information was provided but approval was just smashed through regardless of a couple of reasonable objections.
This pathway greatly benefits one particular member of the Strata Committee who ‘drove’ it and lives on the ground floor, at the back. That’s the first thing. Second is that an area adjacent to his unit is, at this stage, not touched and long-term residents suspect he will try and turn it into some sort of ‘entertaining area’ and pave it or something.
But they also have other expensive plans for ‘landscaping’ the car park area and have provided as little information as they did for the abhorrent pathway.
I think we need to inform everyone of our concerns. Do you agree? And how might we do it and stop them, at least until complete information is provided and a plan can be agreed to?
None of us like the idea of confrontation. It has been peaceful here for years.
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It is possible to ask for and if necessary provide information without necesarily provoking conflict.
I would be asking your committee to provide some fact sheets to all owners detailing future plans – or maybe hold an information night.
If that wasn’t forthcoming, I would set up my own website and/or facebook page where all these issues could be discussed without needing to go through the committee. Setting up a web page is a lot easier and less expensive than you think.
And as a general observation, I would be keeping personal attacks to a minimum. People get very quickly turned off by them and you don’t do yourself any good.
Get the information out there, and make it a discussion about good and bad ideas not good and bad, or old and new, people.
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