As this is the 400th Flat Chat column (whoo-hoo!) I’ve been thinking about the topics that come up consistently and wondering if we are anywhere closer to an answer than we were when we started this thing more than eight years ago.
Naturally, the three Ps spring to mind – pets, parties and parking. The standard by-law on pets has changed, so that’s something. The times that it’s illegal to play loud music have been even more restricted so that’s a win for those of us who don’t want to live in Animal House apartment blocks.
But, like an abandoned car in a visitor spot, the options on illegal parking haven’t moved an inch. You can’t clamp them and you can’t tow them and still you get the idiotic argument of “why should visitors get a free spot when I’m an owner (with three cars and one space)?”
The problem with clamping and towing in the past was, I’m told, violence between clampers and clampees, not to mention overenthusiastic towing by operatives with bikie gang associations.
But there’s hope in the review of strata laws where you’ll find a strong hint that towing might be back on the agenda (clamping doesn’t remove the immediate problem, whereas towing certainly does.).
OK, so how do we avoid scary people taking your car away when it’s not really justified?
I reckon it wouldn’t be too hard to get Council parking wardens involved. We should invite them into a strata complex to issue a fine on a first offence and the second time they ping the same vehicle, they call the towies.
And who are these non-threatening towies? How about ex-cops and retired servicemen and women, operating just for strata and controlled by Strata Community Australia, the strata managers’ governing body?
OK, I hear you ask, who’s going to pay for all this? The idiots who park illegally, of course. Sweet, huh?
You can read all about every conceivable kind of illegal parking HERE on the Flat Chat Forum.
Parking is one of the issues that will surely be discussed at FLAT CHAT LIVE, a Q&A session we are hosting as part of the Strata Community Australia NSW lot owners day on October 20th. Log on HERE for more details.