From The Forum: Kids’ pool ban battle still raging

Remember the story we ran a few weeks ago on the Forum about the Sydney Park Village apartment complex (pictured) that had decided to ban children from their swimming pool AND backed that up with biometric access to common areas in the form of fingerprint readers?

Sounds a bit over the top, doesn’t it?  A lot of people thought so. The story started here on the Forum and then our colleague Sue Williams  picked it up for the newspapers from where it went gangbusters on TV and radio.

So what happened?  We checked in with one of the original residents to raise the issue and they said that Fair Trading had been very little help (Really!?! What a shock!) but they are heading for mediation and if they scheme’s managers and committee still won’t play ball, then they’re off to NCAT where, the angry owners’  lawyers say, they’re in with an excellent chance of success.

It sounds like it, since there are compelling arguments that the ban is in breach of strata law, planning law and the scheme’s own management statement.

Oh, and there have been issues with the biometric locks too, so that may be a self-resolving problem. And by the way, we would never put a Forum story into mainstream media without checking with you first – that’s a promise.

What brought all of this this to mind was the story from London this week about a housing scheme that had been ordered to take down a wall that prevented children from the affordable housing section from using the playground in the “posh” area.

Segregated play spaces are to be banned in all future London housing developments, according to this story in the Guardian online.

This follows public anger at the case of a housing estate in Kennington, where families living in the social housing side of the estate were not allowed to use the play area or any communal spaces on the development.

According to The Guardian report, the company that built the wall dividing the estate, have since removed it and last week paid for a party for all residents to apologise for the segregation.

Under London’s new policy, in future where there is a mix of private owners alongside “affordable” housing, developers will no longer be allowed to build play areas that are accessible only to people in the most expensive properties.

Of course, that couldn’t happen here … we don’t have affordable housing! I’m joking!!!  Of course we have affordable housing – and we also have committees that are prepared to ban kids from play areas.

Back in the real world, there’s been another range of quirky questions on the Flat Chat Forum.

• The mysterious case of the purloined pot plant … that’s HERE.
• What do you do when a rusted-on chairwoman and an overly pliant strata manager won’t even let committee members see detailed accounts? That’s HERE.
• When our defects claim was lodged 10 years ago we were told that our accommodation would be paid for while the work was being done. Now we’ve been told we have to pay for our own. What gives? That’s HERE.
• Pet owners want to put fences on common property. No one minds but could this be the first stage of a land grab?  That’s HERE.
• What are the chances of getting a Royal Commission into strata managers? That’s HERE.
• A neighbour recently renovated their bathroom – now water hammer has become a serious issue. Can anything be done?  That’s HERE.

There are always plenty of new topics on the Flat Chat Forum and may old ones that come back to life and run for several pages. Don’t forget to check the page numbers to make sure you aren’t missing the latest comments.

And you can ask your questions, and answer others’, just by logging in and going to the Forum HERE.