This article discusses owners corporation planter box plant rules, explaining in plain language when a strata scheme may require specific plants and why owners should ask for the legal basis.
Question: The Owners Corporation demands I reinstate specific plants in a planter box on my lot. Why and do I have to comply?
I own a unit that contains a planter box as part of my lot.
The Owners Corporation demands I reinstate specific plants in the planter box. The plants which are currently in the planter box don’t interfere with common property and everything is within the boundaries of my lot.
Why would this be the case? Do I have to comply with the owners corporation’s demands?
Answer: Ask your Owners Corporation for the legal or other basis upon which they assert their right.
Often, the development consent for a building will actually specify the required types of plantings within planter boxes (for consistency throughout the building and likely to preserve the life of the waterproofing of the planter box etc) as a condition of consent, and, if this is the case, it is binding on all the common property and individual lots. There may also be Architectural Standards and/or by-laws governing the type of permitted plants. Although, in your case, it might be an arbitrary request.
Therefore, you should ask your Owners Corporation for the legal or other basis upon which they assert their right to dictate the types of plants you may have in your planter box which is wholly within your boundaries.
This post appears in Strata News #637.
Leanne Habib Premium Strata E: info@premiumstrata.com.au P: 02 9281 6440