@Blue Swimmer said:
I am most puzzled by the Moderator and chieftain of Flat Chat suggesting by-laws need only be observed selectively. Struggs need not apologize. I’m with him on this.
I don’t think that what I said. What I was trying to establish was a difference between by-laws that need to be applied because there has been a complaint or there is a serious problem and those that have technically been breached but haven’t really bothered anyone.
I don’t dismiss the principle of the thin end of the wedge (or, indeed, the slippery slope) but I think if we are going to entice more people into strata (as we need to do) we shouldn’t be scaring them off with a rigid “zero tolerance” approach to by-laws.
Many of our attitudes to strata living and the by-laws inspired by them are seriously out of date – hence the current major review of strata law. But if you’d care to point out the passage of the Strata Act that says Owners Corporations have a legal obligation to enforce their by-laws, I would be most enlightened.
If there is no legal obligation to do so (and I don’t think there is likely to be one even after the laws have been revamped), you are entitled to ask why that is. An oversight? Perhaps. But allowing communities to set their own thresholds of what is and isn’t acceptable, seems more likely.
Selective enforcement of by-laws, to me, is when you pull someone up for the same offence that another resident commits without any comeback. For that reason I have in the past argued in favour of compulsory enforcement when there are complaints.
I believe that Executive Committees have an obligation to pursue legitimate complaints by residents and I think when they choose not to do so, they should be obliged to put in writing why they have made that decision.
But I don’t think anyone should be actively looking for faults and flaws in others’ behaviour. That’s not what community living is about.
All by-laws are not equal. Choosing to ignore washing that can’t be seen on a balcony or a kitten that isn’t doing anyone any harm is a bit different to allowing people to park their third or fourth cars in visitors parking, have all-night parties or leave dogs yapping all day while they are at work.
And finally, thank you for elevating me to Chieftain of the clan McFlatchat. Slainthe Mhath.