WA: Q&A How Do We Stop Parking Problems in Our Strata

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WA lot owners in Perth are wondering how to solve various parking problems in their strata building.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: We rent in a unit complex at the end of a long driveway. We have been told we are “not permitted to have any non residential cars come down the drive”. Is this reasonable?
• QUESTION: Residents, including COO members, park on the verge and have damaged the retic. How do we stop parking on the verge?

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Question: We rent in a unit complex at the end of a long driveway. We have been told we are “not permitted to have any non residential cars come down the drive”. Is this reasonable?

My mother and I are renting in a unit complex down the back of the complex at the end of a driveway.

On occasions, cars come down the driveway to pick us up or drop us home. Irregularly someone may park in front of our garage out of the way of other vehicles.

The people living in the front units are part of the strata committee and have told us we are “not permitted to have any non residential cars come down the drive”.

We are starting to feel extremely hassled and uncomfortable with this matter. We’ve received a letter outlining the above in our letterbox as well.

Are these concerns reasonable and enforceable? Other unit complex’s we have lived in allowed us to have non residential cars drive down the driveway.

Answer: Could the strata company be behaving in an Oppressive, Discriminatory, Unreasonable or Unfair manner as per section 119?

First of all what do the current by-laws permit?

In any instance, traffic travelling down the driveway must be reasonable, that is:

• Are there an excessive number of cars going up and down the driveway?
• Do these extra vehicles block or obstruct the driveway?
• Are the cars noisy?
• Do the drivers of the cars get out of the car to notify you that they have arrived or do they sit there and honk the horn?
• A person simply arriving at your place doesn’t give them the right to park on the common property driveway if there are no visitor bays?

What happens in every other group of units doesn’t apply to where you currently live.

There are two sides to this storey.

If the number of vehicles is excessive or noisy or the people getting in or out engage in loud conversations, then possibly this could be disturbing other owners/ occupiers peaceful enjoyment.

The strata company is also responsible for the maintenance of the common property driveway and excessive wear and tear puts an additional cost on the levies and maintenance.

It is not known if there are any specific by-laws that deal with parking for your strata scheme but the standard by-laws

Schedule 2 Conduct

BL1 – “Vehicles and parking”

BL2 – “Use of Common Property”

BL12 – “Additional duties of owners and occupiers”

The other end of the storey could be that:

• You occasionally have other people arrive to pick you up and drop off?
• You have no car of your own?
• You are not driving and require people or service providers to pick you up?

The question is – Could the strata company be behaving in an Oppressive, Discriminatory, Unreasonable or Unfair manner as per section 119?

Is the strata company being reasonable in their request via the letter you received?

Are you causing a disturbance to other owners?

I trust this gives you a better understanding of what the other owners may be feeling or that you are creating interference with peaceful enjoyment?

Shane White
Strata Title Consult
E: [email protected]

This post appears in Strata News #444.

Question: Residents, including COO members, park on the verge and have damaged the retic. How do we stop parking on the verge?

Parking on grass verge in Perth, WA.

Does the lawn and reticulation which we installed and maintain on the verge come under common ground or other law?

Has the council of owners have the right to allow parking on the verge or does it have to be a ratified by all owners? Our Council of Owners are some of the main offenders.

If it has to be ratified by all owners, would this have to be a majority or unanimous vote to allow parking?

Do the individuals responsible for damage have to pay for repair works to retic caused by the unlawful parking?

Answer: Any parking control on the verge would rest with the Local Council.

The verge is the area of land outside the boundary of the strata scheme and as such is outside the operation of the Strata Titles Act 1985.

The strata company is at liberty to install reticulation in the verge area (they may require Local Council approval to do so.

Any parking control on the verge would rest with the Local Council to either permit or prohibit verge parking as the verge belongs to the Local Council.

You could request to have the verge lawn recorded with the Local Council as a registered lawn where parking is not permitted.

One would hope that you could recover any damage to the reticulation system.

Shane White
Strata Title Consult
E: [email protected]

This post appears in Strata News #408.

Have a question about how to stop residents from parking on the common property verge or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

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Disclaimer: this article should not be relied on as legal advice.

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