Time running out for balcony barbecues

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The new NSW legislation due to come in mid-year doesn’t specifically ban balcony barbecues – or even barbecue smoke – but it does make it a lot easier for those of us who find the stink and fumes from inconsiderate neighbours intolerable.

And even those buildings that tried to sidestep any action against barbecues by passing dubious by-laws will find it hard to resist the pressure to act with common sense for the greater good of all residents.

Take the Kings Cross, Sydney, cross-ventilated high rise which last year removed barbecue smoke from its list of nuisances “because you can’t tell where it’s coming from”.  Yet cigarette smoke was left on the list.  Go figure.

The problem facing this particular building is that air-conditioning is banned so residents have to open their windows to cool their rooms.  If the selfish moron beneath them fires up the barbie when they are out, they come home to a smoke and stink-filled apartment.  As it is, there’s usually a sprint to the doors to close them when the first whiff of burning fat drifts upwards.

When the new laws come in, all it will take will be one resident to complain about one other, and cite the pro-barbecue EC’s “we can’t tell where it’s coming from” point of view, and, if legal logic prevails, NCAT will declare the building barbecue-free.

I realise that putting NCAT and legal logic in the same sentence is a bit of a stretch, but you never know.

Meanwhile, for a list of rock solid reasons that it’s time to ditch the balcony barbie, go HERE, where you will also find some hilarious (and very scary) videos of epic barbecue fails.

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