In this column’s tradition of no names, no pack drill, I won’t re-identify the converted wharf in Sydney where there’s been an almighty stoush over renovations and amalgamations.
But it’s a classic case of the desires of investors to make the most of their money clashing with the needs of residents who want to create proper homes in reasonable peace and comfort (but presumably don’t mind if their properties go up in value in the meantime).
Just for the record for those of you who read the coverage in the Herald’s news pages a couple of weeks ago, residents who were fed up of the noise, nuisance and dust from renovations were narrowly voted of their executive committee, partly by proxies from absentee investors.
But they got their message across. For a start, now everyone surely knows that major renovations in a strata building probably require planning permission. That process gives individual neighbours the right to object, if they want to do so, regardless of what the Executive Committee says.
Also, owners have been told that any amalgamation of two apartments into one that significantly affects common property, such as removal of dividing walls, should have had the OK from at least 75 percent of other owners at a general meeting.
That’s basic strata law and it applies to anyone planning similar work anywhere in NSW. As a result, would-be renovators in any strata building may have to accept reasonable restrictions, for instance, on how and when they can do their work.
The alternative is to try to overturn any refusal through the Office of Fair Trading, the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal and even the Supreme Court, all with absolutely no guarantee that they will win.
There has to be a balance between peace and quiet in your home and the opportunity to make the most of your investment. That’s why we have planning laws, strata laws and by-laws.
Meanwhile owners in this particular building who did undertake work that should have had planning approval could be fined or, in extreme cases, be ordered to reinstate any demolitions.
But that would be harsh … especially for their neighbours who want less work in the building, not more.