@1 Of 8 said:
Now, there is a sign on the letterboxes that says ‘No riding of skateboards and bicycles or playing on the driveway’, but according to our strata manager, there is no bylaw in place that prevents my child from playing on the driveway as long as I supervise him.
Remove the sign as it has been placed on common property without permission.
My son hasn’t played on the driveway for 6 months now as he’s worried about being attacked again.
Talk to the police about warning the neighbours about the possibility of getting an AVO against the neighbours. Verbal harassment is covered by AVOs
… these men came outside and started to record and photograph my son and said they didn’t need parental consent to do this in public places and on common property.
Common property is not a public place – there is a significant difference. They can’t do this and not expect to get into trouble.
The photographing and recording of children is a whole other issue – your neighbours might want to think about the consequences of a complaint to police.
They said they plan to stop me from getting onto the EC this year, so that they can write up and register new bylaws that prevent kids from playing on common property under any and all circumstances. Can they actually do this?
If they have a majority of votes (by unit entitlement) they can elect their own committee at the AGM, so yes to the first issue.
As far as changing the by-law is concerned, that would require a special resolution and that would mean that not more than 25 percent of the votes (by UEs) were cast against it.
In real terms, all you need is two other owners to agree with you and that would block any new by-law. You might only need one other owner if your combined UEs add up to more than 26 percent
Can they vote against having me on the EC?
If they have the support of a majority, they can vote for others instead of you, and maybe reduce the size of the EC so that only their nominees are elected. In short, you need to get four other owners onside to secure your position
Can they set up such restrictive bylaws without the consent of all owners? Or would that fall under the grey area of harsh, unconscionable or oppressive bylaws?
As explained above, they would need the support of five other owners (depending on the UEs) to pass a by-law. You could challenge the by-law on the above grounds at NCAT but that could go either way.
This latest verbal attack (on common property by the way) has now triggered a lot of anxiety in my son. He’s very worried that his mum is going to get arrested, fined or attacked if he walks outside. He says won’t go outside to put the bin out or to check the mail anymore.
See previous comment about the police but don’t expect them to adjudicate on strata law. This is about your and your son being abused and intimidated by aggressive neighbours who are photographing and filming him without your permission.
Having said all that, how noisy is this scooter? Presumably noisy enough to draw residents out of their homes. If that’s the case, can’t you just get a quieter one?
And if there is a noise issue, then the neighbours have access to proper channels along which to pursue complaints. Their behaviour is not acceptable in any community.