Question: Are all units in an owners corporation responsible for maintaining the nature strip adjacent to our property even though the nature strip is not part of common property?
We have a nature strip adjacent to our class B units. The nature strip is public land but the landowner is responsible for maintaining it in the absence of any registered house rules. If the landowner is an owners corporation, are all units responsible for maintaining the nature strip even though the nature strip is not part of common property?
Answer: The owners corporation is responsible for the maintenance of the nature strip in front of the complex.
The ACT Government have produced a document called Your Nature Strip: Guidelines for use of Residential Nature Strips which stipulates the responsibilities for the nature strip.
The document states that the owner of the land adjacent to the nature strip is responsible for the mowing and weeding of the nature strip.
Most B class complexes employ a gardener to maintain the common area gardens for the complex, and the nature strip would form part of the contract with the gardener.
In the case of B class complexes that do not employ a gardener, often one of the owners will maintain the nature strip.
So yes, the owners corporation is responsible for the maintenance of the nature strip in front of the complex.
This post appears in Strata News #743.
Steve Wiebe Bridge Strata E: steve@bridgestrata.com.au P: 02 6109 7700