The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) wants to hear your views on what the priorities should be in the ongoing review of strata laws in NSW.
OCN has created a short survey to gather insights from owners and tenants about their priorities in the current review of strata law.
Are you for or against owners’ abilities to create by-laws banning pets? Or are there other issues that you think should take priority – like the regulation of building managers, bans on embedded networks, or education for strata committees (to name a few issues that frequently pop up here on Flat Chat).
Whatever bee is buzzing in your strata bonnet, you can have your say (link here) in a survey that invites your opinion rather that pushing issues that the NSW Strata Law Review seems to favour.
You can complete a survey about the survey on This Link. Unlike the Better Regulation survey itself, the OCN one will take only 1-2 minutes for owners and 5-10 minutes for committee members. The results will be relayed to government.
Otherwise, the 2020 Year in Review released last week shows the strata owners’ association has been making headway in representing apartment residents and owners at the highest levels, says executive officer Karen Stiles.
She points out that the OCN made major Government submissions, held several public and online events, was mentioned in many news articles and podcasts, and featured frequently in radio and TV interviews.
The OCN — the only NSW body run by strata owners for strata owners – has also launched a new revamped website and automated interaction with members.
“Currently we are preparing a submission for the review of the NSW Strata Schemes Development and Management Acts, which are vitally important to everyone who owns, lives in or manages strata communities as they shape our strata owning and living experience,” says Karen.
“Other recent activities include participation in stakeholder meetings on building defects,” writes Karen. “We have also begun developing case studies and other good news stories to share via our website and social media channels.”
The OCN has also set a date for its first 2021 event – a webinar on embedded networks.
The use of embedded networks in new buildings is highly controversial; it can lead to major savings for owners, but it can also be a way of developers shifting infrastructure costs to strata purchasers, via long-term contracts that have unreasonable and sometimes punitive terms.
The “Unravelling Embedded Networks” Webinar, from 1pm to 2pm on Wednesday, March 31, in conjunction with the City of Sydney, will explore what embedded networks are, what you and your owners corporation need to know, and any pitfalls to look out for.
There will a Q&A session and OCN members will have access to the post-event recording. RSVP to attend here.
Meanwhile OCN is running a poll to find out of members and guests are ready to meet in person at seminars, or if the convenience of Zoom sessions outweighs the experience of personal contact.
And, says OCN, if you haven’t completed the official government survey yet, you can read the discussion paper and respond at the NSW Government Have Your Say website.
The deadline for submissions has been extended to April 7 to allow for comment on what residents feel a “reasonable” restriction on pets in strata buildings would be.
Finally, if you aren’t a member of OCN and think you might like to join, go to OCN.org.au and check it out.
If you want to start a discussion or ask a question about this, log into the Flat Chat Forum (using the Forum link on the menu at the very top of your screen). More people will read it there and you can more easily keep track of responses.