if we assume the car spaces are common property, can lot owners store whatever items they want in their car spaces (alongside their cars) or is doing so a breach of the terms of standard strata insurance policy? Or council fire regulations? Or OH&S requirements?
There are a lot of assumptions here. The first is that the car space is common property. That is not always the case. However, common property by-laws can apply, such as having something in your lot that is not in keeping with the appearance of the scheme.
Issues like insurance, fire regulations and OH&S only really apply if there is a clear danger or if the certification or insurance policies say you can’t store certain things in the car space.
Our building has a strict rule on storage boxes in car spaces – even down to their colour. If residents ignore it then it’s up to the strata committee to decide whether or not the breach is serious enough to warrant a verbal warning or Notice To Comply.
This is how strata schemes set their own standards about how they want to live. If the majority of other owners’ standards are wildly different from ours, we may be living in the wrong place.