Burned and spurned by a phoenixing developer

OPERAKAT wrote:

Here we go again, I don’t want to sound precious but why use another headline attacking Victoria …

“Victoria” doesn’t appear in either headline.   Not precious but a wee bit parochial. Should I not mention the state in the stories I write?

… ending with “Could this happen in NSW? Yes, probably. Would the developer get away with it? I very much doubt if the new block would avoid the kind of forensic scrutiny that would put them out of business”

I think the comparison is valid.  Things are far from perfect in NSW but at least the government is trying to fix things, hence the programs that will catch phoenixers and drive repeat offenders out of business.

The scrutiny applied to your “new development” wouldn’t help the poor owners of the original property,

The young woman concerned realised this but wanted to get the story out to warn others.  The developer’s name will be made public eventually, rest assured.

by the way, there are another four states and territories you might complain about

And I do, particularly NSW, Queensland and to a lesser extent WA and Tasmania.

good luck with your new book I will look out for it at the Hill of Content.

Great bookshop, if it’s anything like the one in Balmain. My partner and I were there just a week or so ago when she was signing copies of her new book “That Bligh Girl”.

And with regard to me writing about Victoria, someone has to do it or nothing will change.  Mainstream media seems very reluctant to touch apartment stories and the government agencies are collapsing under their own weight.

I am no Andrews-basher, but the Victorian government seems to have a blind spot when it comes to strata and the media is letting them get away with it.