Vendetta claim

Vendetta claim

I have watched with alarm, over what seems like several years now, the number of news items that have appeared in Docklands News in relation to the Watergate OC short-stay issue involving short-stay operators Docklands Executive Apartments.

Despite the OC’s claims that this is not a vendetta, it clearly is.

Despite the case for short-stay accommodation in residential buildings being successful with the BAB, Supreme Court and VCAT it seems this particular OC is hell bent on winning at all costs with its continual appeals!

I myself live part-time in a residential building in Docklands (not the building in question) and we have had several issues with long term tenants on our floor, including loud and obnoxious neighbours having a party that went on until 5am despite my polite requests to reduce the noise.

Another incident, where strange smells were emanating from the apartment of full-time tenants and scary looking people arriving at odd times, culminated in a police raid with lots of shouting and banging, leaving us feeling uneasy and questioning our security in our “secure” building.

My point is that one of the main arguments the OC has against short-stay tenants is safety, behaviour and security issues.

It is not only short-term visitors who are capable of making a nuisance of themselves. Guests of a business like Docklands Executive Apartments are required to pay security deposits and are screened closely and personally taken to their rooms.  

I believe that the issue of extra fire alarms and other safety issues have been addressed in this building to cater for the hotel style accommodation that is available in that building.

Having run an accommodation business myself, I am aware of the hard work and diligence that this entails and I commend the owners of Docklands Executive Apartments on the way they run their business.

From my understanding they have had only one or two incidences, that were quickly dealt with during the time they have been operating the business at Watergate.

In a city that is rapidly growing and with events happening here all the time, a variety of accommodation needs to be available and, indeed, the actions of this OC in attempting to make the rules in these buildings prevent short-stay accommodation could potentially affect a huge industry and create a sudden shortage of accommodation in our popular city.

I wonder too, with the popularity of Airbnb, how the OC plans to prevent individual owners from renting out their apartments using this method?

Perhaps a better solution would be to regulate this industry and a co-operative approach be taken.

While the writers of the OC letter published in the November issue 114 of Dockland News labels the business owners of short-stay accommodation as self-interested and takers, I challenge the writer to answer why they judge so harshly someone who has the courage to run a small business and why shouldn’t they make a profit?

We live in a city and the city accommodates a variety of different people, some who make delightful neighbours, some indifferent and some downright unpleasant.

As in all areas of life it is the minority who spoil it for the majority and in this case the focus has been on a minority of potential troublemakers and turned the whole issue into a complex, expensive circus.

The writers who support their already-expensive body corporate fees being used for litigation, clearly do not have a community mindset so I am curious why they would choose to live in such close proximity to other people where they are expected to share facilities in a co-operative and friendly way.

Helen Scott
Manager, Palm Bay Resort

Join Our Facebook Group