stax – I would have thought that the installation of plantation shutters would fall under the provisions of Model By-Law 17 relating to the appearance of the lot as viewed from the outside, where all that is necessary is the consent of the Executive Committee (on behalf of the Owners Corporation) due to the existence of that already applicable By-Law.
The removal of windows and doors from the wall adjoining balconies and the replacement of those with stackers is a complication, particularly as your Strata Plan was apparently registered pre July 1974 (?) – hence your comment about the ownership and maintenance of those windows and doors being the Lot Owners’ responsibility.
If registration was pre July 1974 then the windows, doors, and the entire wall to which the stackers are proposed to be fitted would be part of the Lot/s, and as I’m not entirely sure that anything additional would need to be attached to the floor slab (which is Common Property) as Owners would merely be replacing a timber frame with a metal track, I’m of the opinion that Model By-Law 17 would be again applicable, and that consent could be properly granted by the Executive Committee (E/C).
Whether the proposal is shutters or stackers, the wording of any consent could incorporate conditions such as for style, configuration, and colour (for both), and a reaffirming of Owners’ responsibility for the on-going maintenance and repair of the stackers in accordance with what’s shown as the boundaries of Lots and of Common Property on the Strata Title Plan.
As Owners’ proposals would need to be included on the Agenda for an E/C Meeting together with plans / drawings / specifications etc and be distributed to all Owners a minimum 7 days in advance, any of whom could attend the Meeting and actively participate with the consent of the Secretary, the process would be no different from that of a General Meeting except for the fact that only E/C Members would be voting.
The NSW Strata Schemes Management Act (1996) is silent on the subject of electronic voting, but the interpretation that I use for our self-managed Plan is that it’s an adjunct to a physical Meeting, and whilst on the subject of the Act, it would only apply at Sect 65A if the shutters and/or stackers were considered to be additions or alterations to the Common Property (which in my opinion they aren’t because the wall and items within are part of the Lots) or a new structure erected on that Common Property (which an attached new track, as a replacement, would not be in my opinion).
I think you’ve covered most of the arguments for and against; it all comes down to a possibly subjective assessment of just how much the shutters / stackers affect the appearance of the Lot as viewed from outside. Maybe do some lobbying amongst like-minded Owners in advance of anything being put to the E/C.