With Christmas just around the corner, and parties coming along in threes and fours like rush-hour buses, this is when we discover just how much give and take there really is in our strata blocks.
But noise isn’t just an issue with people having a good time – for some it’s a form of torture.
QUESTION: Is there anything that we can do about our upstairs neighbour harassing us by turning his television on at 3am in the morning, refusing to turn it down and threatening to do this whenever he feels like it? – TP
ANSWER: Your building’s by-laws should cover this so you could raise it with your building manager or executive committee. They can issue a “notice to comply” which carries a potential fine of $550.
If they can’t or won’t help, you could just call the police. State law says you can’t play electronic equipment so loudly that can be heard in another home between 10pm and 7am weekdays, midnight and 8am weekends and public holidays. Police will probably warn him, then issue a fine ($200) if he persists.
Alternatively you can go to your Magistrate’s Court and get a noise abatement order. Then, if they ignore it, they are in contempt of court and could be arrested!
However, in the spirit of Christmas, if they watch TV because they can’t sleep at night, and they turn it up to 11 because they’re a bit deaf, why not arrange for Santa to bring them a set of infra-red headphones so they can hear their TV and you can have a decent night’s sleep.
It may be caving into a noise nuisance but $60 would buy you a lot of peace on earth and goodwill to all men, including your neighbour.
This is our last column for 2008 but before we go, the University of New South Wales Faculty of the Built Environment is conducting research into managing major repairs in residential strata.
Help them out by accessing the survey directly on www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cf. We can’t complain about bad policies in Strataland if we don’t tell people what’s actually going on out here.
Have a good Christmas and a peaceful New Year.