Sorry all; I’m migrating north with Mrs Whale at present, and haven’t had much time to check flat-chats!
I agree with Stevecro on this one. My rationale is that the Agenda of an E/C Meeting is required to be provided 72 hours in advance so that Owners know about the matter/s to be discussed there, so that those such as Felix who have an interest in how something may be resolved can attend and perhaps ask to be heard, or even so that ≥30% of Owners (by unit entitlement) may actually veto the making of a decision on an item altogether.
None of that can occur without a Notice of Agenda, and again I agree with Stevecro that, as for General Meetings, an item titled “general business” is a great opportunity for an informal chat, but that’s all!
By the way, back to Felix‘s original post, I don’t think that the By-Law quoted there is applicable to the installation of an air-conditioner, but it rather relates to items located inside a Lot that are visible from outside, such as non-uniform window coverings and laundry items.
In the absence of a Special By-Law at Felix‘s Plan that provides the mechanism for the installation of air-conditioners, including conditions such as screening of external components, the Owners concerned have, by altering that external facade of the building, breached Sect 65A of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (SCMA).
In such circumstances, the Strata Manager (if so delegated) should be advising the offending Owners of their non-compliance with the SCMA, and advising them that there will be an item on the Agenda of the next General Meeting to specially resolve whether their air-conditioner installation may be approved retrospectively with conditions (e.g screening), or whether they’ll be required by the Owners Corporation to at their cost remove it and to return the building to its original state.
There’s a bit more detail about managing the on-going maintenance of the Owners air-conditioner and whether a generic Special By-Law may be advantageous, but maybe that’s for another day.