ONE WEDDING - TWO GUESTS

A splendid wedding in Sydney last Saturday saw two guests wait until the last of those gathered were leaving before smiling and finally acknowledging the other. Each had been well aware of the other’s presence throughout, though this special evening was simply not the occasion to be spoilt with talk of the grubby dealings to which both have borne witness elsewhere. With the broadest of smiles, and by way of greeting/farewell, the first guest said: “I’ve simply two words: ‘Rachel’ and ‘Abrogation’.” Her interlocutor laughed and nodded. The message, or gift: clear and well received.

With a little over a month before submissions to the ‘Options Paper’ on short-term letting close, a push of a button sees Airbnb send its army of landlords and clients a template which needs only a name, email address and return click to hit the ‘In Box’ of those taking note of the numbers in favour of short-term rentals. At the same time, Airbnb is purchasing commercial content in publications such as the Financial Review, while more landlords assure others that Councils won’t pursue regulatory breaches.

Should you, dear reader, be wondering how best to put your case to Ministers Roberts and Kean that short-term rentals are destroying your home life and community, we recommend turning to wise Rachel for guidance and arguments. You could conclude your position statement quoting her comments on ‘abrogation’, (found at paragraph 15). The Hon. Justice Rachel Pepper of the NSW Land and Environment Court has written one of the most definitive judgements on short-term letting. And should you need further arguments on why any retrospective change to the Development Approval on a Strata property zoned Residential is frankly not acceptable, click here and here. Unlike Airbnb, we don’t want to be repeating the same tired ‘spin’ to legislators time after time. In the documents found at our links above you have material aplenty in these beautifully considered judgements.