Question: We are constantly listening to a leaf blower two floors below us. This noise ruins our Saturday afternoons. Is this a nuisance?
We live in a complex consisting of both residents and holiday accommodation.
We are constantly listening to a Leaf blower two floors below us. This noise ruins our Saturday afternoons because we have to shut doors and windows to shut out the constant on and off leaf blower noise.
Why is this allowed in a unit complex? Surely it is a nuisance.
Answer: What you perceive as ‘not permissible’ and ‘surely’ a nuisance may be entirely reasonable to someone else.
I’m going to flip this around…
We live in a complex consisting of both residents and holiday accommodation.
We are constantly having someone complaining about our leaf blower from two floors above us. Their complaints ruin our Saturday afternoon because we have to listen to them go on and on about us doing leaf blowing.
Why is this allowed in a unit complex? Surely it is a nuisance.
You can see the issue. What you perceive as ‘not permissible’ and ‘surely’ a nuisance may be entirely reasonable to someone else. In strata, there is give and take. Yes, you have rights as an owner – then again, other owners have other rights too and their interests may not be the same as yours. It is ultimately a balancing act.
In this particular case, yes a leaf blower may be a nuisance. That said, if it is only happening a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, you may be hard pressed arguing that it is. A different story if it started at, say, 0500 on a Sunday or 2300 on a weekday and lasted for six or seven hours thereafter. ‘Nuisance’ is not defined under strata legislation, although it has been established through caselaw. This case sets that benchmark. If you read it, you will see it is a hard threshold to reach.
If you haven’t already, you should have a chat to the other owners. They may not be aware of the issues you are experiencing. Perhaps you can negotiate some more suitable times this activity can occur. Failing that, you may wish to bring this issue to the attention of the committee, who also have a responsibility in situations like this.
If you consider a by-law is being breached, you may also wish to pursue the formal by-law enforcement process. Again, though, I’d be urging you to consider what I’ve said above and see what you can do to reach some informal, mutually agreeable outcomes here.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
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