Can we handle the truth about strata?

Executive committees are a bunch of self-serving control freaks who wouldn’t know strata law from the soccer offside rule and just want to interfere in other people’s lives … or so one popular view would have it.
But how much truth, if any, is there in that common but caustic assessment of people who voluntarily give up their time, energy, skills and experience while the rest of us sit on our backsides and whinge?
The University of NSW is about to reveal the unvarnished truth about the people who run our strata plans when Fair Trading minister Anthony Roberts launches UNSW’s Governing the Compact City report on May 21st.
It’s the first comprehensive assessment of how well the strata system meets the needs of those people who own and live in strata properties, according to the university’s Department of the Built Environment’s blurb
In the three-year project, the roles, capacity and effectiveness of both owners corporations and strata managers came under the spotlight.
Researchers research canvassed the opinions of 1550 individuals, including strata owners, executive committee members, strata managing agents and other professional and owner-resident groups (with considerable input from Flat Chat readers).
What’s the point of all this, I hear you ask. Well, here in StrataLand the one question we never ask is how much other people care about the way their buildings are run.
I’m amazed by the level of ignorance in owners corps that I hear about from Flat Chat readers. But the fact that many Executive Committee members, let alone ordinary residents, don’t even know their own by-laws may not even be on a lot of strata residents’ radar.
But how bad is it, really? Are we stressing out over issues no one gives a strata manager’s cuss about? Or is there a hidden problem where people don’t even know which questions to ask?
The truth is about to be revealed and yours truly will be at the launch to referee a shouting match between some of the major players.
The full project report will be available on the City Futures website on the 21st May.