Number of SP52948 owners, tenants, and investors expressed gratitude towards this website as that was the only way to gain access to lot of critical information, which is not available in minutes and notices of meetings, or on Waratah Strata website.
The rest of the audience is anyone who might be interested in problems with strata schemes in NSW...
This website does not have any desire or intent to add own comments and therefore it is up to anybody to make up their own conclusions based on evidence and statements by others who did it in public forums, in courts, or elsewhere. All files on this website were provided to Fair Trading NSW, Office of legal Services Commissioner, NCAT, Supreme Court, and Police. The same files were repeatedly sent to Solicitor Adrian Mueller, committee members and strata managers - silence is their response.
Public is voicing strong concerns about problems with Tribunals. Issues with strata complexes and dubious quality of services provided by those who should enforce laws are common and frequent - examples: NSW-Civil-Tribunal-failing-to-deliver-services
Solicitor Adrian Mueller created dangerous precedence in two CTTT/NCAT cases (SCS 12/32675 and SC 20/33352) which, based on Australian legal system, allow other parties to use as valid defence (legal precedents). CTTT/NCAT fully co-operated with the Solicitor and effectively rendered NSW strata laws useless, and even allowed Solicitor's reprentation of large strata plan SP52948 without having any evidence of being approved by owners corporation (in fact, Solicitor was not approved at any legally-convened meeting).
CTTT/NCAT actively supported Solicitor Adrian Mueller’s predictive behaviour, contempt of court, falsified documents, and insurance claims in two cases in 2012/2013 (SCS 12/32675 and SCS 12/50460, conducted by Tribunal member M. Harrowell) and 2020/2021 (SC 20/33352, conducted by Tribunal member G.J. Sarginson). The precedence means that all evidence of the Applicant can be ignored if the Respondent fails to attend Hearings.
Tribunal had full knowledge of the Applicant's submissions about Solicitor Adrian Mueller, including ones dated 8, 27 February 2022, and 22 June 2022, which they completely ignored.
Democracy should be the leading avenue for managing strata complexes. But, democracy requires high level of sense and ethics, and right for all owners to have full access to strata files in order to make informed decisions. And when that does not happen, how to proceed? One way is to educate public and rise awareness that license to be a strata manager is one of the easiest in any industry: Strata Community Australia (SCA) are offering a three-day course on qualifying to be a strata manager with no prior educational requirements (apparently educational requirements are fulfilled by completing the course).
SP52948 Discrimination Of Owners With Dogs And Lack of Proper By-Law Enforcements
For number of years, Lot 158 wanted to ensure all owners have equal rights, including the right to keep small animals, as long as proper conditions were met. Health concerns from bacteria and parasites in dog faeces, and urine on common property, and noise problems were the main concerns, so if they were properly addressed there wa no valid reason to prevent ownerrs and tenants from having small dogs and cats.
Even before Special By-Law was introduced in the complex in 2021, proper enforcement of common-sense rules for keeping dogs in townhouses was questionable. In 2003/2004, Lot 194 even left a dog unattended for several weeks during Christmas. Lot 147, and many others, experienced huge noise and cries by a poor animal:
At AGM 2017, Solicitor Adrian Mueller directly prevented Lot 158 Motion:
Four years later, at rushed Extraordinary General Meeting in January 2021, SP52948 finally adopted what Lot 158 was advocating much earlier - they did it because NCAT made such decision in a separate case in 2020.
City of Ryde has very clear recommendations about dogs:
Living-in-Ryde-Dogs-in-Public-Places
Maintenance staff did not clean dog waste near tennis courts for 14 days in September 2019:
SP52948-spot-checking-problems-at-tennis-courts-and-throghout-the-complex-16Sep2019
The NSW Companion Animals Act makes it an offence to not pick up dog faeces in a public place. Fines up to $330.00 apply.
Lot 88 (committee member Mrs. Marianna Paltikian) submitted her request for keeping a small dog one month before the Special By-Laws was registered by Waratah Strata Management on 1 February 2021, without disclosur to owners that she already had a dog. Document search on 8 June 2022 found no evidence that Mrs. Marianna Paltikian paid prescribed levy for keeping a dog, that applies to all owners:
Number of owners/tenants kept having little dogs in non-compliance with newest Special Special By-Law for keeping animals. Some examples:
SP52948-examples-of-non-compliance-with-Special-By-Law-14-for-animals-as-of-29Jul2021
Block D dog was witnessed entering elevator by walking on leash at 20:10 hours on 19 October 2021. CCTV recording can prove it.
There is frequent dog barking from balcony in Block A (quite intrusive and unpleasant noise) throughout 2021, and no apparent action was seemingly taken to reason with the owner of the dog who already had several notifiable incidents in non-compliance with Special By-Law.
Block A dog was witnessed leaving elevator by walking on leash held by a young girl at 19:14 hours on 24 February 2022. Dog also walked through foyer of Block A. CCTV recording can prove it. Security guard was in the office at the time and they would have witnessed the event too.
Block A dog was witnessed leaving elevator by walking on leash held by a young girl at 08:57 hours on 15 July 2022. Dog also walked through foyer of Block A. CCTV recording can prove it.
Several times during 2021 and 2022 (latest event recorded on 4 August 2022), dogs were witnessed walking on common property outside buildings without the leash. Strata Manager and building manager do not take any actions, in spite of Special By-Law which was alleged approved at rushed Extraordinary General Meeting in 2021.
Several times during 2021 and 2022 (latest event recorded on 4 August 2022), dogs were witnessed defacating in recreational park towards M2 motorway whilst owners were silently ignoring the laws. Strata Manager and building manager do not take any actions:
Section 20 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 is Dog Defecating in Public Place
(1) If a dog defecates in a public place:
(a) the owner of the dog, or
(b) if the owner is not present at the relevant time and another person who is of
or above the age of 16 years is in charge of the dog at that time–that other person,
must immediately remove the dog’s faeces and properly dispose of them.
Maximum penalty: 8 penalty units.
(2) Proper disposal includes disposal in a rubbish receptacle designated for the
purpose by the local authority. It is the duty of a local authority for a place
that is commonly used for exercising dogs (including an off-leash area) to provide
sufficient rubbish receptacles for the proper disposal of the faeces of dogs
that defecate in the place.
(3) This section does not apply when the dog is an assistance animal being used bona
fide by a person with a disability to assist the person and the person’s disability
makes compliance by the person with this section not reasonably practicable.
Local councils also impose penalties, like one displayed at Watsons Bay park:
Ryde Council has its own website about it:
Photos taken at 10:23 and 16:24 hours on 26 August 2022 in backyard area between townhouses and Block A show that building management staff did not clean plastic bag with dog waste:
Dog owners often ignore laws and let dogs roam freely behind Block A and in recreational areas owned by Ryde Council.
Free-roaming small dog was detected near Block B on 10 May 2023, and owner took control of it only when he was warned about the by-law
SP52948-occupant-dog-without-leash-on-council-land-24May2023.mp4
On 19 October 2023 at around 08:12 hours, Lot 158 was a witness where a townhouse owner entered Ryde Council area and was warned to keep the dog on leash (the same owner allowed his dog to be off-leash multiple times, in spite of advice that it was illegal) - car dashboard camera view:
Further more, thanks to efforts of City of Ryde Council and Lot 158, the recreational area was updated with hundreds of new native plants, which any animal without leash would easily destroy - photos taken on 10 October 2023 and 15 October 2023:
He became aggitated straight away and questioned Lot 158 rights to tell him what to do, whilst his dog urinated on common property next to carwash area (in spite of fact that they just came from their townhouse which was literally 50 meters away). Dog owner completely ignored concerns about others: pet urine odours not only smell bad but can also have negative health impacts on both humans and pets. Ammonia, which is present in pet urine, can cause respiratory problems, headaches, and nausea. It can also be harmful to pets, especially those with respiratory issues or who spend a lot of time indoors.
He was politely advised that Council regulations prevented use of this land for off-leash dogs. By pure luck, Council workers were on site at the time and the frustrated dog owner went to talk to them. He obviously got the same answer as Lot 158 had given him, so he returned and left the recreational area soon afterwards.
On the way back, he yelled at Lot 158 owner asking why they were the "only owner objecting to dogs roaming freely on Council land". Lot 158 calmly responded to dog owner to stop yelling. The dog owner obviously knew Lot 158 very well and complained about lack of free roaming for dogs. Lot 158 said that he would fully support off-leash use of recreational area if Council changed their regulations, based on public petition (that would be part of democratic process!), BUT that would mean the area would be free for use by anybody, not just tenants and owners in SP52948.
Aggitated dog owner asked "why would you do it?" multiple times, in sheer frustration that it would "decrease his privacy in the complex". Lot 158 responded that it would be discrimination against other owners and tenants in Ryde area who pay council rates and that Lot 158 would never allow or support such discrimination and unequal rights. Dog owner left very frustrated, without having any sensible answer.
For the record, that owner was witnessed by Lot 158 multiple times allowing his dog to roam freely on Council land. When Lot 158 presented this information to the dog owner, there was no response or even an attempt to deny it. Dog owner knew quite well that he was guilty of non-compliance with Council regulations.
On 27 November 2023 at around 17:24 hours, Lot 158 witnessed a small dog running behind Block A without an owner. The dog approached Lot 158, stood close to them for a few seconds, and then continued walk on concrete pathway behind townhouses.
On 29 November 2023, a concerned tenant from Block D advised Lot 158 that he saw regular off-leash large black dog roaming freely on Council land, but hiding in the far end of the property, near townhouses, so that not many owners could see the events. It was also obvious that number of recently planted small natives were overrun by dogs, destroying public property.
