The body corporate has a caretaking contract with Aspire Facility Services. Aspire is a company we pay to look after the common property. It is not one person, and it is not an owner here.

The caretaker has always been a company. The on-site caretaking used to be done under a contract with a company called Duo Perfect. Many owners knew it by the people they saw day to day, but the contract was with the company – not with any one person. That contract was later moved to Aspire. At the same time, it was changed so the caretaker no longer has to live on site. The work and the standard stayed the same. Only the live-in part changed.

Because Aspire is a company, the work is done by its team. Ollie is Aspire's managing director and our main contact, but he has staff. Any of them may be on site at any time, doing scheduled or one-off work. So it is normal to see different people – or to not see Ollie – on any given day.

A caretaking company does not have to live in, or own a lot in, the scheme. Some do in other schemes, but it is not a rule, and it is not how ours works. Aspire is engaged like any other trade or supplier. It has no link to who owns or sells any lot.

Someone from Aspire is usually on site 4 or 5 days a week. How long they stay varies. Some days they are here for hours. Other days they come for a short while, leave, and come back later. The work moves around all 68 lots and the common areas, so they may be at the far end of the complex, or somewhere out of your view, for most of a visit. Not seeing them from your own window does not mean they were not here.

The storm late last year caused damage across the complex, and we know owners have been waiting on repairs. We want to be upfront about why it's taken until now to get moving.

Repairs need to be funded and the committee needed to have confidence that there would be sufficient funds available before they could be approved. That meant waiting for the Annual General Meeting and for the budget and levies to be adopted and then start coming in, so the money was actually in place. On top of that, there were some scheduling delays and the recent wet weather pushed things back further — this kind of work simply can't be done safely in the rain.

None of these were avoidable, and we hope owners would agree that having the work done properly and safely rather than rushed is important. With the weather forecast looking more positive and the funding in place, our caretaking contractor, Aspire Facility Services and the supporting subcontractors ready to commence works. Work is expected to start in the week beginning 8 June, weather permitting.

A few roof areas – particularly at the 60s block — are harder to reach and need specialised access equipment. A specialist attended this week to assess the site. All works must be done properly and safely so this was an important step.

Where the team needs access to your lot or where it may be needed to access another lot, you'll receive an entry notice beforehand. Please be aware that as much notice as possible will be provided, but keep an eye out for these so work can move forward. We appreciate owners working with us when weather or other circumstances require schedule changes at short notice.

The Northmarque Body Corporate [NMQ-BC] WhatsApp group is now announcement only. We will continue to use it to share updates, reminders and notices with owners – it give us a quick way to keep everyone in the loop between these updates.

For anything that needs a response – a question, a request, a maintenance issue or a concern – please email instead:

General enquiries – community@northmarque.net

Help and support – support@northmarque.net

The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management has just published a new guide, Queensland Community Living: A Body Corporate Guide. We've uploaded it to the website and the link is below if you would like to read it.

Please park considerately and keep private roadways clear (see the map below). Parking against yellow lines is also not permitted. Remember, whether or not a vehicle is parked where it should be, drivers are always responsible for taking care when manoeuvring around stationary vehicles.

The committee has received a number of comments from residents about vehicle speed in the community. While there is no official speed limit on our private roads, we ask everyone to keep to around walking pace (about 5 km/h). People – including children and pets – use the roadways on foot, and sightlines around parked cars and corners are limited. Keeping speeds low gives everyone time to see and stop.