Safety nets on strata balconies

It's a brave Flatchatter who puts aesthetics before children's lives so I'm keeping right out of this discussion about safety nets for balconies.

QUESTION: My company imports and installs internationally accredited safety nets to protect children from falls from windows and balconies.

The problem is that we have been operating for 3 months and not one Strata out of at least 20 have approved the safety nets (nor have they disapproved them). I have clients who have been waiting for about three months for a decision from their Stratas, to install the safety nets .

They are worried about their children's safety and they would like to be able to play in their balconies with their children, as well as keep their windows open. In my view this is very wrong. People should be able to have choices and to make them, not be deprived of all their rights.- via Flat Chat Forum.

ANSWER:  You can see what the nets look like by following the links on the Forum, where discussion is already getting pretty heated.

“Of course everyone is concerned about child safety,” says gcelec on the Forum, “but it doesn't follow that you have the right to do anything that increases child safety without taking into account the impact it has on others.”

Parents aren't forced to live in a property that is potentially dangerous to their child, gcelec continues, adding that other owners shouldn't be held to emotional ransom.

But there are voices strongly in favour of the nets.

“Children falling from balconies and windows is a serious problem in Sydney,” says Cathy Sherry, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law, UNSW, quoting a report done for Westmead's Children's Hospital which treats two children a month for falls from buildings.

“As windows and balconies are invariably common property, it is potentially the responsibility of owners corporations, ie every owner, to address the risk,” adds Cathy.

Good idea or 'Nanny Strata' gone mad?  See the nets and have your say RIGHT HERE where the discussion has already heated up.