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Talking loudly in public is not a crime but littering is. The NSW government has made it easier to report littering through its “Report a Tosser” app, part of its“Hey Tosser!” campaign. The app is available for download on both iOS and Android devices. It allows you to report littering incidents in real-time, providing details such as the location and type of litter. There’s more information on this website. A visit from the local council or cops will probably move them on.
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Having seen plutocracy in action, I can confirm that it does exist although it doesn’t happen in every scheme and when it does, it can be benign, or even positive for the building.
All it takes is for the owners of the largest properties to get together in pursuit of their mutual benefit and the simple fact of their deciding to work as a group gives them an advantage over those who don’t have the voting power and would rely on energising an uninterested, disconnected numerical majority to counter the concentration of votes.
It’s the Golden Rule – those who have the gold make the rules.
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For those of you who don’t know, a solar tube is a reflective tunnel that channels light from a rooftop dome, usually down through roof space to a ceiling unit that provides natural light.
Have a look at this video but please bear in mind this is from America and it’s a couple of years old so the prices quoted may be way off. Google “solar tube” to find local installers.
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It has only just occurred to me that the system of giving more votes to the people with the highest unit entitlements, and therefore the highest levies, may be one of the reasons that so many older buildings have been falling into disrepair. You can’t get turkeys to vote for Christmas and you can’t get some people to vote for higher levies to pay for repairs when they have the power to save cash by voting against them.
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… what chance would the failed candidate have of getting it turned over at NCAT?
None. If it’s not illegal, what would the grounds be for having it overturned? It sounds like all the provisions of the proxy limitations were observed, and meticulously so. There are recently added provisions under the Act where you can ask a majority of owners at a general meeting to remove office-bearers from their positions or members from the committee. But unless you are prepared to launch a grass-roots campaign on a specific topic – such as a decision that you think is wrong and harms the building – you have buckley’s chance of getting that kind of support – especially when the proxies are harvested again.
The tribunal is not going to overturn an election unless there is a clear breach of the law and there isn’t, as far as I can tell. They might even admire the committee for its efficient use of its perfectly legal powers.
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Agreed. This is one of those cases where doing nothing is the best way forward. Even if they send you a notice to comply, they have to take action at NCAT to enforce it and at some point, someone will point out that their by-law is not enforceable, for the reasons Uberowner outlined.
Apartments are the best places for cats – they don’t get to monster wildlife. And where else will we get the kitten videos to brighten our days?
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I can go more radical that that! How about every apartment has the same voting power but two votes – one for the owner and one for the resident. That way the “double investors” – the people who live in the building – would have the majority votes, the tenants would have a say and the decisions would be made by the people who have to live with the consequences.
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Your circumstances seem very specific but, generally speaking, any common services that run through lot property are the responsibility of the OC. Otherwise, (intheory) you could say, OK, this pipe junction is causing me too much trouble so I am closing it off.
If the OC disagrees, then take it to Mediation and then if necessarythe Tribunal where you will get some kind of definitive response.
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One compromise might be to split the accounting so that the provision of the cabling to the outside of the apartments is covered by one amount, payable through OC funds, and each apartment is charged a nominal fee per connection. That way, the upgrade of the building is shared by UEs and individual owners can choose whether or not to pay the connection. Lets say in a block of 50. the OC pays $275 x 50, then charges $175 x 50 back to OC funds and tops up the account as people pay for connection. Every body who signns up in the initial phase gets connected at a low cost but then and every year thereafter the connection cost can rise to cover the additional work and interest on the shortfall.
Too simple?
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The meeting to make the decision is next week. I’ll let you know the outcome as there must be others experiencing the same dilemma.
Please do. It’s all valuable experience and information.
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There’s an intrinsic anomaly in all of this which is that an external body (NBN) is dictating strata policy. The law says that common property costs must be charged on the basis of unit entitlements. NBN says the installation must be all or nothing. The OC is responsible (very generally speaking) for infrastructure up to but not into individual units. The OC can’t really issue a compusory charge on any basis other than UEs. And there will be some people who don’t want high-speed internet anyway.
One elegant, if slightly dubious solution would be for the OC to offer “free” installation to all owners, but pay for the installation out ot OC funds. Or find some way of categorising the upgrade as a fire safety provision.
But, to be honest, strata is full of illogical charges – like people on the ground floor having to contribute to lift maintenance or balcony repairs – so you could distibute the charges according to UEs and let the losers take you to the tribunal if they feel sufficiently aggrieved.
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