#28098
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    It doesn’t have to be one thing or the other – both an official OC response and individual owners’ responses are appropriate and helpful.  

    But for a strata committee to say that this is beyond their responsibility, because there is nothing in the law that says it IS their responsibility, seems like the easy way out.

    That said, there’s nothing to stop a committee discussing an issue and deciding not to get involved.

    But say it wasn’t lighting but, say a new late night bar or a brothel on the corner?  Would you leave it in the hope individual owners had heard about it and wanted to object?

    A few years ago there was a major development planned for the building across the road from the one next to ours.  The committee next door decided it wasn’t their job to say whether or not it affected their residents – it was up to individuals to respond.

    It would have affected a lot of residents, mostly those on the lower floors. And what do you know – all the committee members owned flats on the higher floors and it wouldn’t have affected them.

    Also, the investors didn’t even know because the tenants didn’t pass on the “junk mail” from the council.

    When our committee raised the issue with the council (some of our residents would have been affected) they were told that nobody in the building directly opposite had complained so what where we complaining about?

    It was only when we alerted residents in the building next to ours that they got themselves organised.  Meanwhile we put together a very strong argument with letters from individual owners and objections from our committee and they cut the proposed development by about 10 floors (if I recall correctly).

    You would be astonished how many people think a problem they are confronting is so bad that someone else must be complaining too.  The number of people who are too busy, or don’t want to get involved, or don’t know what to do or say soon mounts up.

    If there is an issue that affects your neighbourhood, I believe the committee should write on behalf of all owners (some of whom aren’t residents) but also encourage residents – owners and tenants – to write to the authorities too.

    There may not be anything in strata law that says you should do this – but there isn’t anything that says you shouldn’t. It’s all about being part of your own community and the larger community around you.

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.