What's different in Chatswood
A growing CBD
In June 2023, Willoughby City Council said it had approved 13 rezoning proposals around the Chatswood CBD for high-density housing, with 4,000 of 6,600 new dwellings earmarked there. More shared walls and bin rooms mean more pest questions land on strata.
Rats and a good mesh
Council names black rats, mice and common mynas as pests around the home, and calls exclusion the most effective strategy. It says rigid metal mesh with a 6.5mm x 6.5mm aperture keeps out mice and rats, and suggests it under compost bins and vegetable beds.
Blue Gum Creek
Council's Chatswood West walk follows Blue Gum Creek through tall trees and ferns to Lane Cove National Park. It cares for over 300 hectares of bushland citywide, with large concentrations along the Lane Cove River and Middle Harbour.
What council does in public places
It manages pests through regular care of waste bins and, where necessary, rodenticides chosen for the lowest risk of secondary poisoning in wildlife.
Apartments: who arranges what?
Common areas are strata's to arrange, and if you rent, your first call inside the unit is your agent. Before pest work in a NSW residential complex's common areas, whoever arranges it, strata managing agents included, has to give residents a pesticide use notice at least 5 working days ahead.
That notice can drop away for emergency work on rodents, wasps, bees, venomous spiders or fleas, as long as a notice is displayed and records are kept.
German cockroaches are the one to raise early. They're small, amber and hard to shift, and the Australian Museum calls them the most troublesome pest cockroach in Sydney. If neighbours are seeing them too, ask strata to look at the whole floor, not one kitchen.
Houses near the bush: termite inspection and treatment
Houses near natural bushland may have termite nests nearby, the Australian Museum says, though they may not contain pest species. Which is why a regular inspection matters more than the worry. If you've found damaged timber or mud tubes, don't break them open. CSIRO says several control options rely on finding termites active.
For anyone licensed or renewed after 17 December 2021, treating timber pests takes the timber pest management technician licence, and in NSW that sits with the person doing the work. Inspecting without pesticides needs no EPA licence, so ask about qualifications and insurance as well.
If you're on a strata committee
- Keep bin rooms clean, and ask contractors to report any droppings or gnaw marks.
- Plan pest work with the 5 working days' notice in mind.
- Ask for the product's full name and any re-entry time, and pass both to residents.
- Ask for a written treatment record for the strata file.
Our take on pests in Chatswood
In a tower, raise it with strata early, because one kitchen rarely fixes a building. In a house near the bush, a regular termite inspection is the thing to book. Tell us which you've got and your postcode.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
