Parking Madness

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday April 28, 2007

Jimmy Thomson

You may have thought a car space was for cars ...

Our strata dispute procedure is great - in theory. But it's less fantastic in practice, especially when you are dealing with selfish bastards who have no interest in doing anything other than exactly what they want.

The neighbour who will deafen you with loud music, park in your car spot and put wooden floors down with no sound insulation is exactly the same kind of person who will gum up the mediation-resolution works by the simple tactic of not taking part.

Remember the owner who was refused permission to build storage in her car space then went ahead and did it anyway? It meant her neighbour couldn't open his car door, but she had her "rights" as a property owner.

Then some dunderhead adjudicator at the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal decided that those "rights" took precedence over community needs, in this case, being able to use car spaces for ... d'uh ... parking.

It is more than a year since the executive committee involved appealed against this ludicrous decision, in which time the offending owner has been unavailable at each hearing date.

The latest tribunal adjudicator appointed to hear the case has withdrawn and the storage owner, apparently, is likely to be overseas again when the next hearing is due.

Meanwhile, her neighbour has to choose between chipping his door paint on the storage unit or throttling himself as he gets in and out of his car, with no prospect of resolution any time soon. And other selfish owners are waiting for the green light so they can build storage, too.

Surely there could be a few simple principles established so these anachronistic, anti-community decisions aren't made in the future.

When individual demands conflict with community needs, the community should always win. If people aren't prepared to give and take to share the many benefits of living in apartment blocks, townhouses and planned communities, let them go and live in houses. All we need is for our decision-makers and legislators to see beyond the picket fence and quarter-acre block. Watch out for flying pigs.

Email your questions and comments to flatchat@jimmythomson.com.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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