Can the body corporate committee use bollards to “reserve” visitor car parks, or is this an unreasonable restriction on common spaces?
In our complex, the body corporate committee installed bollards on allocated visitor car park spaces as part of a manual “reserved visitor parking” scheme used during holiday periods. The committee installs the bollards at least two days before the reservation begins, which prevents genuine visitors from using spaces even when they are vacant.
The committee is also slow to remove the bollards when the visitor leaves, sometimes taking more than 12 hours to free up the space. The booked visitor can still access the reserved space until the committee removes the bollard.
The bollard scheme frustrates owners because empty visitor spaces can’t be accessed by our bona fide visitors. Can the body corporate committee lawfully manage visitor parking in this way, or is this an unreasonable restriction on common spaces?
I very much doubt that the body corporate committee can do that for two main reasons.
I very much doubt that the body corporate committee can do that for two main reasons:
- The planning approval likely included the obligation to provide a certain number of visitor parks. If those are denied to genuine visitors, it is likely a breach of that approval.
- Leaving aside the potential denial of the right to use common property for proper purposes, which I don’t think the committee can do on their own in these circumstances, the bollard is an improvement to common property and would likely need approval at the general meeting.
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With more than 30 years’ experience in property, management rights and body corporate law, Frank is a beacon of knowledge and a renowned strata-industry expert. Known for his straight-shooting style and commercially driven advice, Frank cuts through the most challenging legal problems to deliver real-world solutions.
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