Sleep deprived by Drive-by Dad

When it comes to strata strife,  there’s no one more likely to be at loggerheads than residents of a two-unit block, especially if one of them is losing sleep.

QUESTION: We live a block of two and our villa is furthest from the road while the neighbour’s bedrooms are next to the driveway.

My brother-in-law drops off his child at 7 am every weekday. He stops his car outside our front door (on common area) for five minutes then drives off.

The owner of the other villa complains that he wakes her up every time he drives past her window. She says he should stop his car on the street and walk down the driveway.

I think this is ridiculous.  Any advice? – Parisberry, via Forum.

ANSWER:  This is exactly the apparently trivial issue that can drive people nuts, particularly in a two-unit strata where the irresistible force often meets the immovable object. Flatchatters are lined up on both sides of the argument.

“Your brother-in-law is asked to sacrifice only a minute of his time by considerately parking his car on the street and walking down a driveway,” says ‘T’.

“Maybe your neighbour should change their entire lifestyle by sleeping earlier, or shifting their bed to another room. Maybe they should install expensive noise insulation. Then your brother-in-law won’t have to go to the Herculean effort of walking down a driveway.

“Who’s being ridiculous?”

But Drew takes a different tack: “So, if you leave for work at 7am you should park on the street, just in case you wake up the neighbours? Nope. Didn’t think so.

“Building works can commence at 7am. I fail to see how a car at 7am is that much of an issue.”

Lionel disagrees: “Parisberry, you are living in your own dream world. Show some consideration for others.”

What do I think? Forget by-laws and rules;  if we only have one neighbour, doesn’t it make sense to accommodate them? And a little walk and a lesson in thoughtfulness isn’t going to kill the kid … or dad.

Read the discussion in full HERE on the Flat Chat Forum.