Podcast: mind your Ps as we call for your Qs

It’s a case of too many Ps on the pod this week when we discuss your participation, the Hyperbole Towers podcom, pet petitions and payment for strata committee members.

Let’s get to participation first.  We want to hear your voices, literally, so send us a question or a suggestion for a discussion topic as an audio file – record it on your smartphone – and we’ll try to include it in the podcast and respond to it too.

The format should be something like: “This is Jimmy from Darlinghurst and I was wondering …” Then you’ll get your 15 seconds of fame – sorry, 15 minutes would be way too much – and you might even get the answer to a question that’s been bugging you.

Promoting the Podcom

The second P is a little self-indulgent in that it’s a clip from the Hyperbole Towers Podcom.

Now, at time of writing, more that 310 people have listened to the Podcom in the first six days that it’s been “live”.  Now, if that doesn’t sound like much, consider this; if a podcast gets more than 136 listeners in the first MONTH that it’s been released, it is in the top 50 per cent of podcasts in the world, according to this web page.

So 310 in less than a week must be pretty good, no?  You can still have a listen yourself, if you haven’t already, by clicking on the story somewhere on this page or going HERE.

Pets in parliament

The third P is the pet conundrum and how one of the people who thought she’d persuaded NCAT that a no-pet by-law was unfair, and was later told by the Appeals Panel told that it was OK, has launched an online parliamentary petition and a crowd-funding campaign to cover her legal bills and get the law changed.

And, as I write, the NSW Upper House is debating a change to the strata Act, making it easier to approve environmentally sustainable changes to common property to which someone has added this amendment:

137B  Keeping of animals

(I) A by-law has no force or effect to the extent that it purports to unreasonably prohibit the keeping of an animal on a lot.

(2) The keeping of a particular animal on a lot is reasonable unless the owners corporation can show that it is not in the best interests of the animal taking into account the needs of the animal, including exercising, feeding and toileting.

Whether or not that flies, you will know by the time you read this – but it’s a crafty, if shifty move to attach it to a Bill that has nothing to do with pets but has been sponsored by the Premier.

Cash for committees

Our fourth P is about payment to committee members or office bearers.  As it stands, strata law in NSW allows committee members to be paid for their work but only retrospectively. 

In other words, the have to do the work for a year and then turn up at the next AGM and hope that the majority of owners think they did a good enough job that they deserve some kind of reward.

There’s always a danger of people getting elected so they can get some pin money, if you do pay them.  Maybe it should be related to having done a basic course in strata management and committee work before you can be paid, retrospectively or otherwise.

And finally, Sue talks about the chrome-plated, tiled and built-in Hell of choosing what to put in a bathroom renovation.

Listen here

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It’s free: no hooks, catches or sign-ups. Even better, it’s fun.

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