The Horizon strata committee calls emergency meeting to deal with new pet law
A landmark court ruling decreeing apartment blocks cannot impose blanket bans on pets has left the strata committee of the swanky Horizon — home to celebrities and Sydney’s elite — scrambling to comply.
NSW
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Owners in the plush Horizon, Darlinghurst apartment block have been called to an emergency strata meeting to discuss new pet rules.
It comes after one of their owners, jazz singer Jo Cooper, won her case in the NSW Court of Appeal which ruled against the Horizon by-laws imposing a prohibition on the keeping of animals.
All NSW strata apartment blocks with blanket bans will now face pressure to allow cats and dogs following the court ruling that strata by-laws cannot be “harsh, unconscionable or oppressive.”
It will also have an impact on blanket bans on Airbnb lettings.
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The matter kicked off after Cooper, and her husband Leo bought their apartment in the 43-storey apartment building for $1.4 million in 2015, although the by-laws since its 1998 completion read that “an owner or occupier of a lot must not keep or permit any animal to be on a lot or on the common property”.
The strata committee, which enjoyed 77 per cent support when it put the pending appeal to the owners mid-year, have reportedly spent $150,000 on legal bills after proceedings began in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
But after the unanimous decision from three judges, the Horizon has abandoned its legal battle over the Coopers’ miniature schnauzer named Angus.
Robert Newlinds SC represented the Coopers, whose instructing solicitors were Bartier Perry. DEA Lawyers instructed Gregory Sirtes SC for Horizon.
Marlyn Robertson, chair of the Horizon, quickly ruled out mounting a High Court challenge, even though the by-law was a “model” by-law under legislation at the time.
Instead owners, who include MONA gallery owner David Walsh, heiress Francesca Barham Packer, the jurist Elizabeth Evatt, Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver and entertainer Don Spencer, will be asked to approve strict rules on the keeping of pets at a November 4 general meeting.
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The draft new strata rules will only allow one dog or one cat per apartment after an application is approved by the strata committee. Caged birds or fish in a secure aquarium will also be permitted.
Animals must be carried through the common property of the Harry Seidler-designed high-rise, and will be restricted to using only lifts three and four, and not the other lifts.
And no animal will be permitted in the block’s Forbes St garden, gym, barbecue space, pool area or tennis court.
Cats will be banned from balconies, while dogs will not be allowed to be left unattended on apartment balconies.
“Owners must ensure that the animal does not create noise, odour or any other nuisance which is likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of an owner or occupier of another lot,” the draft bylaw states.
Pet owners will be given seven days to remove their pets should the strata committee revoke their approval to have an animal if they fail to comply with the rules.
The court ruling from the judges — John Basten, Robert Macfarlan and Des Fagan — acknowledged keeping animals could adversely affect other lot holders’ enjoyment of their units, “barking dogs being an obvious example”.
But Justice Basten advised there were administrative provisions capable of dealing with such issues.
The judgment noted strata blocks were a community where co-ownership created the opportunity for both co-operation and conflict.
BLOCKBUSTER SALE
The three-bedroom Vaucluse apartment, renovated on The Block by “the fat tradies” Mark and Duncan has seen its price almost double since it first sold under the hammer a decade ago.
The New South Head Rd project, has just seen a re-sale at $1.855 million when it was bought by another owner in the block of four.
It first sold for $907,000 at its live auction in 2010, which saw the duo, Mark Bowyer and Duncan Miller finish second in the competition when beating their $860,000 reserve by $47,000.
The recent seller secured 7 per cent annual price growth, which confirms the ranking of the Vaucluse investments among the best of the initial reality television series that saw the contestants modernising three low-rise apartment blocks at Bondi Beach, Manly and Vaucluse.
I take a detailed look at The Sunday Telegraph online at just how the three blocks have done since their original offering.
Of course, Channel 9’s The Block has become exclusively Melbourne based because the producers complained Sydney local councils were less accommodating and prices were dearer here, too.
ZOO DIRECTOR LISTS IN ROZELLE
Simon Duffy, a director of Taronga Zoo, and his husband Wally Murphy, head of service operations in Westpac’s customer solutions division, have listed in Rozelle.
They’ve extensively renovated the double-fronted Victorian cottage, which is best remembered for its initial makeover by Patrick Thompson, the actor carpenter son of screen legend Jack Thompson, in the late 1990s.
The four-bedroom cottage now has a top-floor parents’ retreat, with walk-in wardrobe, ensuite, and decking with Anzac Bridge and city skyline views.
The freestanding Victorian-era cottage features timber floors, high ceilings, wall panelling and plantation shutters.
Belle Property Balmain agents Monique Dower and Madeleine Russell have scheduled a November 7 auction with a guide of $2.35 million.
Duffy says the couple are selling to do another renovation project.
Thompson pocketed $402,000 when he sold the Hutcheson St cul-de-sac home in 1998.
Rozelle house prices sit at a $1.7 million median, but $2.3 million for its four bedroom offerings, according to realestate.com.au.
Based on five years of sales, Rozelle has seen a compound growth rate of 4.4 per cent for houses. There were 104 house sales over the past year, which is down on its 125 five-year average.
HARTZERS BUY IN PADDINGTON
Former Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer and wife Georgiana, have bought back in the Sydney market.
It followed the $15,625,000 sale in March of their Michael Dysart-designed Vaucluse trophy home.
Georgiana’s name is set to pop up as the $6.5 million-plus buyer of a luxury freestanding Paddington terrace, at almost double the price paid in 2013.
Set on around 300sqm, the modernised five-bedroom, three-level residence was constructed in the late 1980s, innovatively designed with its expansive banks of glass walls.
The agents had been quoting $6 million for its auction earlier this year.
It’s the second-highest known sale in Paddington this year, behind a $7.15 million sale, and the suburb’s eighth sale over $5 million this year.
The Hartzers retain their $6.8 million Pittwater sandstone weekender.
Hartzer recently emerged as an investor in PathZero, the Sydney-based climate start-up of Carl Prins, the green energy millionaire.
Prins has been active in the property market, too, securing the mid-week sale of his 1910 Federation-era Waverley home for just shy of $4.4 million through Chris Volpatti at McGrath. It had been listed with $3.9 million hopes by Prins and his wife Kate who had paid $2.8 million in 2013. They have spent $17.9 million in Bronte.
FOOTBALLERS KICK TOWNHOUSE GOAL
Former NRL star Michael Lichaa, who played this year for the Cronulla-Caringbah Sharks premiership team in the NSWRL, has listed in the Shire.
It comes just days after his former teammate Josh Reynolds secured $1,675,000 for his townhouse in their Caringbah South project.
It was a four-townhouse development undertaken last year.
Lichaa’s four-bedroom townhouse, pretty much the same as Reynolds’, has been listed through Dane Moller at Greg Gilbert.
The townhouse development was constructed by the former Bulldogs teammates and their builder mate James “Gabby” Marroun.
The trio bought the 1310sqm site for $2.5 million in 2017.
Cronulla Real Estate agents Reno and Dominic Santaguida secured the Reynolds sale.
It was just a few doors down from Reynolds and Lichaa’s earlier duplex project.
In August Reynolds found a buyer for $1.5 million.
Lichaa had secured his sale for $1.75 million in 2018, just after the project was completed. The pair paid $1.5 million for the 710sqm site.
$3.8M RAILS RUN FOR CALLANDERS
Legendary racing journalist Ken Callander and wife Helen saw brisk bidding when their Randwick home sold for $3,856,000 at auction yesterday.
Four of six registered bidders competed when McGrath Coogee agents Mark McPherson and Emilee Tayyara auctioned the four-bedroom home.
They had a $3.6 million guide and reserve. The couple had paid $950,000 for the Federation home in 1997.
Callander, a legend of the track, began his career in the 1960s as a copy boy with Sydney’s Daily Mirror.
Meanwhile, Randwick’s 1865 mansion Nugal Hall, listed in 2018 at $12 million, has sold for about $7 million, likely setting a suburb record that has stood at around $6.75 million since August on Govett St.
Owned by the Campion family for four decades, the Milford St home comes with a circular turret with sandstone facade.
SEA TO SEA CHANGE
Sunrise Beach-bound Gilles and Kate Merry are selling at Clareville in a transition to regional sea-change.
McGrath agent James Baker, who sold the bushland hillside home in 2015, has the listing again.
It comes with a $3.6 million guide, based on a run of Hudson Parade stellar sales, including Moon Lodge, the modernised 1932 Alexander Jolly cabin.
The Merrys’ Yakusan marketing agency, launched 14 years ago, will continue with the couple especially passionate about getting tourism safely on the go again.
The COVID-19-induced shift away from the city office dominated lifestyle was highlighted in the latest annual McGrath Report.
John McGrath calculates Sunrise Beach was 45 per cent cheaper than some rival beach neighbourhoods.