If there is one person in the strata sphere who’d say Building Commissioner David Chandler is not the Strata Messiah, it would be the commissioner himself.As we discuss on this week‘s podcast, he cringes at every mention of himself as some sort of saviour, constantly deflecting all the abundant praise he gets onto his team.They no doubt deserve all the kudos they can collect, but Jimmy wonders if the BC is, even just subconsciously, trying to avoid a similar fate to another NSW Commish.He means one who went from messiah to pariah – at least in the eyes of the media – Police Commissioner Peter Ryan.Sue was Peter Ryan's biographer and saw at close hand how he was adored by the public while vested interests and viciously hostile media figures brought him down.You can't help but wonder if David Chandler might face similar challenges if his enemies in the building industry -dodgy developers and shoddy certifiers - find a compliant shock jock, some internet trolls and a tiny chink in his armour, real or imagined.Before that, we unpack what we learned from the OCN ‘Strata Matters’ Seminar. The fact that there’s a lot of angry people out there is only part of it.Later, Sue digs into the story she wrote about the strata scheme that’s planning to impose pet behaviour bonds of $2000 per animal – something a senior Fair Trading official described as a clear attempt to get round strata laws allowing pets.And she recalls the harrowing story of the mother, grandparents and baby who were forced to move back into a dangerously mouldy flat because of NCAT delays and bungling.There’s all that and more in the Flat Chat Wrap.TRANSCRIPT IN FULLJimmy 00:00It's been a big week for us here, at Flat Chat.Sue 00:02It certainly has!Jimmy 00:03We had the OCN seminar, which I emceed, and there was a couple of stories that came out of that, that appeared in the papers. You've had a couple of stories; you've had a pet story?Sue 00:13That's right, and an NCAT story.Jimmy 00:17An NCAT defects story. Lots to get through; we'd better get on with it. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 00:25And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain.Jimmy 00:28And the Sydney Morning Herald.Sue 00:29And the Sydney Morning Herald, yes!Jimmy 00:31 Increasingly.Sue 00:32Yes. I don't know what has happened, but I think the Sydney Morning Herald has taken over a lot of the Domain stuff, so I think a lot of property stories are now appearing in print and the Sydney Morning Herald first, before they appear in Domain.Jimmy 00:45So, you're back in the Herald? That's great! Alright, this is the Flat Chat Wrap.[MUSIC]JimmyThere's a lot to get through, from the seminar. It was four hours of (often), heated discussion. The Building Commissioner was there; he and a big crew from Fair Trading, some interested strata owners, some angry strata owners, and even you turned up and did a piece about the media. But even your question session got hijacked by people, who are just angry; just very, very, very angry and, you can understand why.Sue 01:36Yes, there's a lot to be angry about, with the situation with defects in apartments. As David Chandler was talk
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
