our highest recent sale price
Did you know? South Brisbane’s lowest record sales price in the past six months was Apt 13/24 Edmondstone Street for $160,000.
South Brisbane’s highest recorded sales price in the past six months was 39 Russell Street for $1.75 million.
Here’s an interesting one! There’s a group of IT ladies calling themselves “Girl Geek Dinners” and needless to say when they post a blog … the content pops up everywhere! They’re running small events with speakers addressing issues about IT and peripheral topics and it’s not just local – there’s groups all over the world. The last event was at West End’s Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro on Boundary Street and the next one is set for April 30.
Its official – Brisbane’s next Scrapbook & Papercraft Convention will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), South Brisbane from June 6-8. The event is held once a year and only in Brisbane. Keeping with the exhibition theme, Sexpo will launch today at the same venue, with The Australian Sex Party promising a significant announcement to coincide with the first day of the event. Sexpo opens today at 12noon and will run through to this Sunday. It’s seems to be a busy time of the year for the BCEC as Bees Nees City Realty is also planning a seminar for landlords – we booked 3 months ahead and only had 2 nights to choose from! More to come on that soon.
We’ve all had days when our neighbours get under our skin, but police are investigating an argument and weapons incident in a Gold Coast penthouse apartment last Thursday that’s apparently all about body corp fees. And this issue is one that all apartment and townhouse owners need to know about.
Imagine for a moment you own a 1 bedroom apartment and your body corp fees rise by 70%, effective immediately. Why? The penthouse owner believes the sharing of building costs isn’t fair, and has been handed a fee reduction. Queensland’s Commercial and Consumer Tribunal has dozens of cases before it (2 were heard in Brisbane last week alone) where apartment owners are asking for a cut in their fees, at the expense of their neighbours. And in almost every case they’re successful.
The Body Corporate and Community Management Act calls for all owners to pay equal contributions to the running costs of a building/community (through “lot entitlements”) unless it’s “just and equitable” that they don’t. In recent hearings the Tribunal’s saying the property’s size, height and number of bedrooms aren’t relevant to the fees you should pay. Trouble’s brewing because most buildings’ lot entitlements were set prior to the Act kicking off in 1997 and there was no previous requirement for equal numbers. Entitlements were usually set by value of the apartment, so 1 bedders on a low floor often pay a lot less than 3 bedroom penthouse at the top.
The 2004 appeal to our Supreme Court known as Fischer v Centrepoint Apartments was the important test. Fischer, a Spring Hill penthouse owner, trounced his neighbours and got his fees reduced, this precedent opening the door for any aggrieved owner to simply submit a $200 request to the Tribunal to lower their fees.
If you buy your apartment with fees disclosed up front, shouldn’t you be bound by them? How can an owner buy with certainty if their neighbours can ask for a rule change at any time? Given the law changed in 1997 should earlier buildings be ‘protected’ (they’re not now). On the other hand, why should some owners effectively subsidise their fellow owners’ building expenses?
Neither NSW or Victoria regulate the setting of lot entitlements and, if appealed, the value of the apartment is relevant to the Tribunal decision. Are Queenslanders determined to be “more equal”? And how many more apartment owners will see their fees leap up before the government fixes this mess? We don’t have the answer but this is a prickly issue that won’t go away. Even before last week’s shooting the Attorney General had issued a discussion paper on the problem and submissions close this Friday.
And for those buildings where the fees have already been adjusted by the Tribunal? Must be fun sharing the lift…
While we’re busy building bridges and tunnels to take traffic out of the CBD Council’s this week confirmed a plan to reduce the speed limit on central roads to 40km/h. There’s solid research that says this drop from 50km/h halves the likelihood of a pedestrian being killed on impact, and with 4 fatalities in the CBD in the past 4 years it sounds like a good move to us. Queensland Transport has yet to rubber stamp the decision but expect a change before Easter.
In many parts of Europe a 40km/h limit is in place across all urban areas. In Sweden for example a 32km/h limit really does encourage bicycle use! Council predicts an extra 215,000 office workers to be jostling around Brisbane CBD over the next 20 years so the jaywalking and careless pedestrian problems will only get worse. The Lord Mayor estimates 43% of all traffic through the CBD is really people on the way to somewhere else, so those new roadways bypassing the city can’t come soon enough.
Shave For A Cure
The Leukaemia Foundation’s “World’s Greatest Shave” is on soon and our agency’s manager Rob Honeycombe has volunteered (with some team encouragement!) to go bald for the cause. Rob’s already made a strong ‘head-start’ on the campaign but would love your help – so visit the webpage to donate! And remember, it’s tax deductible. Thankyou!
On a Plumber’s truck: ‘We repair what your husband fixed.’
On another Plumber’s truck: ‘Don’t sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.’
At a Towing company: ‘We don’t charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.’
On an Electrician’s truck: ‘Let us remove your shorts.’
At a Radiator shop: ‘Best place in town to take a leak.’
On a Taxidermist’s window: ‘We really know our stuff.’
In a Veterinarian’s waiting room: ‘Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!’
In the front yard of a Funeral Home: ‘Drive carefully. We’ll wait.’
And on a Maternity Room door: ‘Push. Push. Push.’
The saga of South Brisbane’s St Mary’s Catholic Church continues with yesterday’s mass attracting a bumper crowd of about 2000, despite Father Kennedy’s term prematurely ending last Wednesday. Father Kennedy’s dedication to his community (and the cause!) is obvious, but I wonder whether the dedication of those who attended the mass yesterday will continue once the T.V. cameras are switched off. I guess time will tell.
Known to his friends and followers as “Apex” (from emerging West End Reggae/Punk band “The Rude”) is on a mission to take on Sankey Street for the production of their upcoming music video. Sankey Street is one Brisbane’s steepest so don’t try this at home! One of the crowd here told me “The Rude” played at the last Woodford festival and that you can hear them live in various spots around the neighbourhood. I wonder how he’s feeling this morning?
Brighton Road's "Franklin Villa" circa 1928
This great historical photo of Franklin Villa on Brighton Rd was posted on Flickr today, which is a website where you can find and post images. Have a search under Highgate Hill and you’ll find images from around our area as well as from other Highgate Hills around the world. Franklin Villa was built between 1888 and 1892 and was offered for sale last year for $2.6 million. This image is held by the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland but the photographer is unknown. If you know who took the shot, please let me know.
