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This is a curly one, probably. There was a renovation done in our Western Sydney strata of 42. Someone turned a three (small) bedder with one bathroom into a four bedder with an extra ensuite. Crazy, I know. There were three EGMs about this, they were persistent, and eventually with the help of a stacked meeting a strata manager helping suspiciously just a bit too much, it only just snuck through by about 1%.
Basic research said they really needed local council approval which they didn’t bother with, despite right-thinking people insisting it was required. The unit in question’s owner also works at the local council. Hmm…
It was finished about 6 months ago and now, guess what’s happened! The unit in question belongs to a Strata Committee member who lives under the Chairman and seems the reno has damaged the Chair’s unit. When they jacked up the floor to remove walls and put in supporting beams, it damaged the Chairs floor’s somehow, he claims. (Yes, they did have an engineering report from engineers with only a P.O. Box address, hem, hem.)
Now the Chair and the committee member have had a falling out. Word on the street is the Chair demanded and was paid $5,000. But now there’s more damage from a second spot where a wall was removed and Chair is demanding more money.
Nothing has gone through the strata manager or SC meetings of records. This may be to keep records clear of problems in the block but the whole thing seems marginally corrupt. Personally I am worried about what might happen if worse faults occur in the future. Like a wall collapses or something.
The other thing is, some of us think there might be an element of the crafty Chair may be going for ‘hush money’ since the owner works at the council and has used their position to assert “I understand these things, no council approval needed”.
I feel as if all this should somehow be bought out into the open for safety’s sake without worrying too much about it affecting real estate value and such. After all, the whole corner of the block might be compromised. Am I right, please?
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