Question: Our two main gates on our community are continuously breaking down. To save on costs, can we remove the gates entirely?
Good morning I live in a gated community and we are always having problems with our two sets of gates. One set doesn’t work at all and the main gates are continually breaking down. We have spent a considerable amount of money on the gates to try and get them working.
Can we remove the gates or do we need to seek permission from the council?
Answer: Removing the gate may not cost very much, so it is feasible that it could be taken down by a simple committee resolution.
The body corporate has the capacity to make changes to the common property and this could include the removal of the gates.
The question is what level of authority is required for that and what are the implications of proceeding?
Changing the gates would be considered an improvement. As per the BCCM website, An improvement can include:
- a non-structural change, like installing air conditioning.
The likelihood is that this would be a non-structural change and such a change can include ‘adding, removing or swapping something’. Removing the gate would seem to fall into that category.
After that it comes down to cost. There are three standard improvement limits:
- $200 (or up to $300 if approved) x the number of lots: committee resolution.
- More than the committee spending limit but not more than $2000 per lot: ordinary resolution at a general meeting
- More than $2000 times the number of lots: special resolution at a general meeting.
Removing the gate may not cost very much, so it is feasible that it could be taken down by a simple committee resolution.
However, there are some questions here about the capacity to remove a common property utility that many owners may want. Some people may have moved into the scheme specifically because it was a gated community. Many may value the level of security it offers.
Removing the gate might solve the immediate problem with its performance, but why wouldn’t you look at replacing it? That will be a more expensive option, but I think it has to at least be put to the owners. The body corporate also needs to remember that if it does not approve the removal of the gate, it has a statutory obligation to maintain it and keep it in good condition.
Other questions come to mind. Will the body corporate’s insurance be affected by removing the gate? How is security affected? If the body corporate removes the gate is it placing owners at risk? Will additional security measures be required? There are a number of questions that should be investigated before proceeding.vLastly, you ask about whether council approval is required. It may depend on the terms of the DA for your site. Certainly it is easier to check with them before rather than finding out you have made a mistake after the fact.
This post appears in Strata News #556.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
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