FLAT CHAT WRAP Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams

A slightly shorter but more pointed podcast this week as Sue reports on plans to demolish two affordable-rent apartment blocks and replace them with one luxury block with fewer, but presumably high-end apartments.It's another potential blow to the supply of affordable housing in desirable areas. City of Sydney have said “no” so the developers have appealed to the Land and Environment Court (LEC)– which held a kerbside hearing outside the site, the other day. Apparently there are half a d...

This week we take a swing at polarising polititicians who are hoping to fire up the Nimbys against medium-density housing.They know it's what the state needs, they know it will help resolve the housing crisis, they don't have a viable solution, but hey, if it means they can get a few more votes in marginal constituencies, to Hell with the homeless.Then we go back to the future with Company Title. Are apartment blocks where owners set their own rules and have nothing to do with strata la...

The Podcast takes a musical twist this week when we discuss the ear-bending plight of residents of four apartment blocks in the Sydney suburb of Meadowbank who have been subject to an opera singer practising his scales for 90 minutes every Sunday.How bad can it be? The perp is clearly talented and may even think he’s doing his neighbours a favour by standing on his balcony belting out his do-re-mis, but really?Oddly enough, music-loving Jimmy thinks hitting the high notes for a non-cons...

This week’s podcast is mostly devoted to embedded networks, what they are, why they can be good or bad, and what you can do to make them work for your strata scheme. To that end, we chat to Joseph Arena of Embedded Networks Arena, a company that will analyse your embedded network contracts – e.g. for energy and hot water systems – and tell you how you can get a better deal.This was recorded via Zoom so the audio may not be up to our usual standards but if you listen to the en...

The only story in strata in the past week has been the decision by Building Commissioner David Chandler to hang up his hard hat and retire in August. So we thought the time was right to look at what he has achieved, the challenges he's faced - like being encourage by his then Minister to have a sit-down with a very dodgy developer - and the legacy he leaves behind for his successor.He says his challenge for the last few months of his tenure is to get the message out there that ther...

This second part of Lawyer In The Hotseat opens with an apology for promising a discussion on ebikes in last week's podcast, forgetting that it's actually in this, the second part (promise).Otherwise our discussion with strata lawyer David Bannerman covers renovation by-laws and the value of by-laws that would stand up if challenged at a Tribunal but send out a signal about what is unacceptable even if it's legal.We also look at strata managers acting unilaterally, the controversial Bui...