Dear Auntie
I think we should have a Christmas party by the pool of our complex. It’s been a tricky year for all owners, and the committee, with some strata tensions (Auntie’s note: no way…) and I think this is a good way to foster some community spirit. But some Grinches here think we shouldn’t spend body corporate funds on a Christmas event. Tell me they’re wrong!
Regards, Rudolf
Dear Rudolf
It’s beginning to look a lot NOT like Christmas, I’m afraid for you, because the answer here is a mistletoe-and-tinsel infused ‘no’.
Don’t believe me? Take a read of this order, where the adjudicator, quite rightly Auntie thinks, said that a body corporate goes beyond its statutory function when it uses body corporate funds for a Christmas do. And heck, if you don’t like that order, then take a look at this one, which reaches the same conclusion.
In both cases, it is clear there is nothing stopping owners from getting together and having a Christmas event: it’s just they should chip in their own funds to do so. Oh, and of course, they should not create a nuisance when doing so: no singing this at the top of your lungs at 1am by the pool, in other words.
Do you have a question for Strata Solve’s Agony Aunt? You can ask it here. While Auntie deeply cares about your strata queries, she regrets she cannot give legal advice or answer every single question, as she is a busy woman.