Three fresh faces on the committee will make a huge difference. Currently, many aspects of our financial affairs are hard to come by. The general ledger, which details ongoing spending, has been removed from the owners’ Community App. We don’t know the current planning and cost of long-term maintenance as the last publicly available sinking fund report was 2018. Yet there is increasing rust around our community area. The gardens look dilapidated. Neglected maintenance erodes the value of your apartment. We continue to face massive legal expenses. Our three new faces will advocate transparency and accountability so that owners are in control of levies and spending. So please vote for them!

Xueshan “Jimmy” Jia (for chairperson)

I am a highly skilled professional engineer, with a PhD in material engineering and Master of Engineering Science. I bought into Southport Central 5 years ago and have a deep understanding of critical issues facing our community. I am well connected and want to bring my professional experience, dedication and sharing spirit to the committee and the complex and propose positive change. And we need to be far more open with owners on how we spend their moneys.

Isabella Aden (for the committee)

As an owner and resident for the past 22 months, my interest in body corporate matters has grown. My 20-year tenure in education has honed my skills in collaboration, communication, and listening. I consistently advocate for fairness and equity in all facets of life. As an avid gardener, I’m aware of the importance of maintaining our complex. I offer a fresh perspective and impartial opinions on important issues affecting Southport Central. As T Fuller said: “Good is not good where better is expected.”

John Butler (for the committee)

I’ve been a resident since 2013 and have body corporate committee experience as a chairperson, secretary & treasurer. I’ve been on government, international, university, professional & community committees and was federal president of my professional association. I graduated from Canberra University, with post graduate qualifications from QUT.  I have worked in all levels of government, including as department head, have lectured at universities, represented Australia at WHO, and led a government trade mission to Indonesia & Thailand.

How to vote

Complete Management Group should have sent you this AGM notice. The notice includes your voting paper. You need to fill it in, sign it, & either email the completed voting paper to secretary.cts35751@completemanagementgroup.com.au, or post it to The Secretary CTS 35751, c/- P O Box 3571, Australia Fair, Queensland, 4215 before the AGM on October 31. You must be an owner to vote.

TO AVOID VOTER FRAUD, DO NOT ACCEPT A PARTLY FILLED IN BALLOT PAPER FROM ANYONE.

The Body Corporate Manager (BCM) is responsible for maintaining the Body Corporate Portal, which until July 2023 included a ‘Financials’ tab which let owners inspect, for example, the body corporate ‘General Ledger’. It disclosed, in near to real time, all payments made by the body corporate to service providers and allowed associated invoices to be inspected.

In July 2023, the BCM was advised that certain invoices on the General Ledger would not open and asked that she correct the problem. In response, she removed the ‘Financials’ tab entirely from the portal and has not reinstated it. This is despite requests to do so.

Transparency in body corporate financial management promotes accountability. When such information is openly shared, owners can see how their contributions are being used. This creates a sense of ownership and encourages owners to take greater interest in body corporate affairs, which can help prevent financial mismanagement.

Annual body corporate expenditure usually exceeds $4 million! Responsibility for authorising payments for all goods and services is in the hands of the committee, which is comprised of unpaid volunteers.

Restoring the General Ledger to the portal will enable ALL owners to oversight body corporate expenditure throughout the year, in ‘real time’. They will be able to question transactions, as was the case until July 2023 when the General Ledger was removed in questionable circumstances.

Legislation provides that all members of the committee must be allowed access to the body corporate’s records, without payment of a fee.

If the BCM is unable or unwilling to reinstate the General Ledger on the portal, the Committee is equipped to publish a Monthly Newsletter to all owners, with a link to the General Ledger including invoices, or attach a copy of that month’s General Ledger.

Global warming has and will continue to be a major cause of extreme weather disasters. Clean energy is the only way to save our environment for future generations.

We should take advantage of the government’s clean energy scheme to reduce the carbon footprint in our community and to save money at the same time.

Both solar panel and battery system can be subsidized by the government’s clean energy scheme.

We have total of more than 800 m2 of existing roof area on the level 3 entertainment area that is empty and available for installing solar panels. This includes more than the 400 m2 roof area on top of the gym building, more than 200 m2 of the indoor pool roof, more than 100 m2 of the conference room roof, and more than 100 m2 of the barbecue shed roof.

The removal of the trees along the length of the northeast wall on Level 3 has created an opportunity to install a line of solar panels atop the length (of almost 140 metres) of the 1.5 metre high parapet/wall. We could add another 200 m2 solar area.

Using solar to provide electricity for the recreation facilities would not result in any direct savings on electricity bills for individual apartments, but it would reduce the overall cost of providing electricity to common areas which in turn would reduce body corporate electricity costs and thereby produce saving for owners.

We estimate that solar panels could generate more than 100kw and the saving could be more than $65,000 per year.

Installing solar also is an opportunity to invest in our own complex and demonstrate a commitment to reducing energy costs. There are numerous environmental benefits of solar panels including the generation of clean, renewable energy and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Are there maintenance costs for solar power system? No, solar companies provide a 10-year warrantee for system and a 20-year warrantee for the panels.

Is there any compliance issue with AS/ANZ 3000:2018? Not at all. AS/ANZ 3000:2018 is an electrical wiring standard. All solar panel system and battery system are designed in compliance with AS/ANZ 3000:2018. It is not a question at all.

Solar companies are legally responsible to install the system per the AS/ANZ 3000:2018 requirement.

Voters should be wary of the motives of entities with commercial interests who want them to ‘sign’ completed voting papers.

In the past, in some locations, these entities have contacted owners in relation to voting at the Annual General Meeting, invited them to ‘sign’ completed voting papers and advised them that once signed, to submit their voting papers in the manner stated on the voting paper.

Lobbying in relation to body corporate matters is not specifically regulated by legislation. But those persons who engage in such conduct in pursuit of personal and/or commercial gain, know that such conduct is contrary to the spirit and intent of the legislation.

They have intentionally misled lot owners to believe it is permissible for another party to fully or partially complete a voting paper on behalf of the owner. It is NOT.

In the case of Bayview Residences, the Body Corporate Adjudicator concluded that:

“If an owner simply signs a voting paper when someone else has ticked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ against each motion then the owner is not completing their voting paper themselves . . .” and declared those votes invalid.

Make your vote count. Please take a few minutes to read the voting papers and vote in favour of the results you want – not what someone else wants.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT A MOTION?

In the case of Ipomoea Court the Body Corporate Adjudicator said: “Each lot owner has 21 days’ notice of the motions on the agenda. If he or she wishes to find out more about a motion, he or she may contact the proponent of the motion, or the committee.”

Take time to read the AGM motions and if the explanatory notes are not clear, submit your questions to the Body Corporate Manager (cmg@completemanagementgroup.com.au) before you vote.

In 2019 four trees in our level 3 recreational area were proving problematic.

The trees had been planted in a very large purpose-made concrete planter box/garden bed located forward of the indoor pool. However, they had grown too large and for structural and safety reasons, had to be removed. Shrubs in the garden bed, like those planted elsewhere on the pool deck, were also removed.

This left behind a large planter box full of soil.

All that was ever needed was to top up the soil and replant shrubs – in keeping with the original ‘approved landscaping plans’ designed to complement the otherwise mostly tiled area. A timber deck was the last thing ever needed on the pool deck.

However, it’s what we got. The timber deck was inappropriately installed on top of an unstable garden bed at a cost of around $30,000. This was despite there being an abundance of space across the pool deck for more deck chairs and lounges if required.

Now, just four years later, the entire timber structure has been removed and is being replaced by, surprise, surprise, yet another timber deck – the cost of which has not been disclosed.

The committee says more than 10 cubic meters of soil were removed from the planter box and the drainage wastes cleaned. Only time will tell whether water seeping through the deck will fully drain or pond below in the planter boxes, smell and attract mosquitoes etc.

There’s also the obvious safety hazard posed by the absence of a balustrade. People unfamiliar with the area could tumble from the upper paved level onto the timber deck below. Will this be addressed this time around?

The photos put into perspective what was once a beautiful, gardened area. The abundant shade has disappeared, and we’re left with an incomplete, very expensive mess.