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If you think there is an issue with the wall, then the next step would be mediation and then NCAT. Under section 232(2)
To support your case at NCAT you would need to have a report done on both the tree and the wall. Hearsay and opinion do not sway tribunals.
If you win you may be able to recover these costs as the reports could easily have been commissioned by the OC, to either infirm or rebut your opinion.
If the ownership of the land is tenants in common, then it is not strata titled. ( first point)
Strata title is where an entity called the owners corporation owns the land and buildings and each lot owner owns a cubic space.
Secondly, my understanding of the gun laws is that one can shoot on common property ( within some restrictions) with the permission of the land owner. Since this land has multiple owners, everyone would need to agree to the shooter.
An honorarium is a payment for the contribution of a committee member. It’s usually not paid on an hourly basis. By definition it’s not considered to be payment for specific work.
And it’s paid in arrears. That is, it’s awarded to a committee member for past service.
So there should not be any expectation of future performance by that committee member.It looks like this committee may be difficult to get a hold of. To me that’s a sign of a badly run scheme.
In a directions hearing, the member will make sure that the case is on track. That means checking that parties are submitting their affidavits and receiving them from the other party. Depending on the complexity of the case, and the stubbornness of the parties, there could be several hearings.
You should at this stage be preparing affidavits from all your witnesses, and gathering all your evidence. At some point you will be required to share this with the other party.
What does not happen is that parties turn up to the trial hearing with volumes of evidence that no one has seen. At the trial hearing the parties examine the evidence before the member who then makes a decision.
If you are unsure how it works, and you are self represented, I’d recommend going to the tribunal and observing how it works. The hearings and dates are published on the court pages. The tribunal is open to any member of the public.
This topic can be a two edge sword depending on where you sit
In my experience its not uncommon for records to go missing. The act for many years has said that minutes of meetings are to be kept in a minute book. Most schemes I found have these books. If the meetings were convened correctly and minutes recorded correctly, these will contain ALL th decisions made by the owners and the committee.
But we all know that a lot of decisions are made informally , years ago by phone or hallway conversations (or letter), these days by email.
The former were often not captured; not passed on or too voluminous to keep.
With emails , strata managers and committees use different software and storage means. So at hand over time, its often the case that email systems are incompatible. Additionally if the emails can be transferred, they are not catalogued in any meaningful way
So the moral of the story is to make all decisions at properly convened meetings, and record them and keep them in a minute repository
The double edge sword is that in an argument (whether permission was given to use common property) the source of knowledge will be the minutes.
However if you are the recipient of such a permission, then I would highly recommend keeping your own copy of the correspondence , whether it is a minute record, or just an email.
My understanding of the fire safety rules are that the building only needs to comply with the regualtions in force at the time it was built (Its hard to find these rules but they are out there)
However the local council or the fire brigade can apply orders to bring the building up to a more modern standard. (This usually occurs after a fire incident as neither the council nor the fire brigade police buildings compliance. That is what an AFSS is supposed to do)
I understand, talking to a few fire professionals, that councils can be “reasonable” in the type of stuff to be put into old buildings. (But you have to be prepared to work with them)
However the idea of being proactive has merit. The fire professionals tell me that you are less likely to be subject to an improvement order if there are some fire safety measures in place.
You can get an independent report done by a fire safety practicioner. They can assess your building and advise measures to take to be “more modern”. They can’t force you to upgrade everything and their report will save you installing items that are not required.
What it means
If on the strata plan, the line around your lot includes a courtyard or terrace, then included in your lot is the land 1.5m below the surface of the ground (only where the courtyard or terrace is)
If the floor is concrete then this rule does not apply.
You should also see a note describing the height above the courtyard or terrace that forms part of your lot.
Unless there is other information, the way that strata went about it is incorrect.
Reading Section 236 of the act, seems to be that only the tribunal can vary the UEs. So a bylaw will not affect the UEs.
With the order of the tribunal , the OC goes to Land and Property information and registers the new UEs.
Until the new UEs are on the title certificate, they have no effect.
The act also says that the OC must register the new UEs within 6 months.
I think the poster is compelled to pay the levy according to the old UEs.
Generally a gate outside of a building would not be considered as a fire exit. Therefore there are no regulations thst cover its function.
I ask though, what’s the purpose of a gate if it’s locked? Seems somewhat redundant.
I’d guess that someone in the past got spooked by some incident and the gate was locked. Try talking to the other owners and ask if the gate can be left unlocked.
Blame the NSW government.
They sold the land titles office to Pexa. They have increased the fees payable and now the only way to register a bylaw is through one of their providers, a lawyer or conveyancer.
Since you have no choice but to use a provider and Pexa, it’s a monopolistic situation, with the attendant price gouging.
I can only comment from a NSW perspective, but I think ACT would be similar.
It would require the consent of all owners to such a proposal. You can bet that any lot thst potentially faces higher levies is going to vote against the proposal.
Anecdotally there are many strata that have UEs somewhat out of whack.
This particularly applies to older strata, where more value was placed on lots closer to the ground ( less steps) to walk, whereas today lots on higher levels are more valued especially if they have a view.
Its quite expensive to redo UEs so there would need to be a very good reason to do so.
In many cases the “approval of the owners corporation” can be given by the committee, or in cases where its delegated, by the strata manager.
There are circumstances where approval is required by the owners corporation. The act then usually says it has to be at general meeting.
So the law takes a sensible approach in that the committee is tasked with making the day to day decisions on behalf of the OC.
KCstrata
its clear your committee does not know what common property is.
Ceilings, other than between floors of the same lot, window sills, and walls (on the perimeter of the lot) are common property
Id push back on them, and even threaten to take them to mediation.
On the matter of keeping correspondence
I know many people just use their mobile devices for reading and sending emails. It tends to create a lazy approach to handling emails.
From many years of working in the engineering and project management fields, I know the value of an email, especially if there is a dispute. if one has the facts in an email, ites better than someones memory or opinion.
I happen to use a desktop computer (how ancient) so manipulating emails is a lot easier than a handheld device. It also means that my emails are stored on a local storage so I am not limited as to how much I can store if I were using the cloud. (I also make regular backups)
I have separate folders for different topics and file EVERY email I receive or send in the correct folder.
This practice has saved my behind a number of times.
Firstly, just becuase the FT website says the OC has to do something does not make it mandatory.
There is a difference between should and must. To support the must case one needs to find part of the act which says so. (I cant find any part of the act that says that NCAT notice must be sent to all owners. JT correct me if I’m wrong)
Secondly, how did it get to a situation where the owners don’t know that they’re going to NCAT.
Whilst the strata manager usually receives the notices, they are not obliged to do anything but pass it on to the committee. The committee then decides at a committee meeting what steps to take to address the notice. This is done at a properly convened committee meeting, with an agenda thats sent to all owners. The result of the meeting is also sent to all owners.
It seems from the original post that its likely that the committee are trying to wash over this thing at NCAT by keeping the owners in the dark. In my opinion thats bad practice and tells me that the committee has something to hide. Remember that the strata manager is instructed by the committee so its not likely they are doing this of their own bat (though if they are you have an incompetent strata manager)
Proceed to NCAT and see if you can get an order for your costs. When the other owners find that they are footing legal bills for dubious actions, they may tweek to the fact that the current committee is inept.