A message to all the purists liberals
see message below – very appropriate for all those who bought the lies
see message below – very appropriate for all those who bought the lies
About the architecture along Northbourne Avenue
The saga of the proposed Garden Bridge over the Thames in London has been well covered in the UK press. It is indeed a saga. It is about a folly.
Australian universities have made a mess of their own advocacy – at the expense of students.
Australians are again being subject to being Turnbulled. Yet Again.
My comments have nit changed much from my previous post on Rhiannon Giddens: This 2017 album features a woman with a strong and beautiful voice – singing folk songs of America – making very beautiful Americana music.
A few stories on this topic – and the world needs more people to identify this and to lead the change away from this nasty ideology.
There’s been some great public discussions in the media around the spin that has been put out by the government to distract from the real problems with the decisions to place new government housing developments into several Weston Creek suburbs.
Two things to consider: One is that heritage is about to be celebrated here in Canberra with a festival from 18 April till 7 May 2017.
The other day we ran a set of small stories on urban issues – one being about student parking and how it has become a nuisance in the streets near the school.
School Parking – should schools provide adequate parking?
When a system is broken, how easily it is to point the figure at one person and say “It wasn’t me, it was that person over there.”
Continue reading Land Development – who should fall on that sword
George Bell (1920 – 2008) was member of Group M – in Melbourne.
Author Clive Hamilton has been engaged in the climate debate for more than 20 years, with books selling worldwide.
Released February 2017. Rating 4/5 – highly recommended.
Here’s the famous photo. The world saw the problem? and…
I have said elsewhere about online surveys – they are useful but caution needs to apply if anyone intends to use them to inform planning. They are not reliable for that purpose.
2017 in Canberra began with announcements that so many new buildings are about to change the city’s landscape.
Continue reading Good architecture arrives in Canberra–we wish
Here in Dickson there has been a very long series of road works.
They have tried before and have failed–but this time they have got their way.
The Canberra City Bowling Club site in Braddon has now been the subject of articles across several blogs.
This is the question (what is going on?) residents around Braddon had hoped to be answered when they attended a developer initiated information session on Thursday evening 8th December.
Continue reading More on the Braddon bowling club development
I have been buying apple computers since about 1991. Most of time I have been very impressed.
One of the pleasures of life is a great cup of coffee and a real baguette.
There’s so much wrong with the democracy experiment at the moment. But is good that a few journalists are seeing the issues that must be dealt with.
There’s one thing about the way the ACT Government goes about planning for Canberra–it will always use any tricky method to justify how it assists the developers.
Clive Hamilton, Charles Sturt University (republished from The Conversation)
( a note from Paul Costigan – Before you read the Clive Hamilton article below from The Conversation– – have a look at the photograph above. It is scary!)
The Appeal against the recently approved development application (DA) for the Dickson supermarket complex goes to its next phase very soon (see dates below).
For many years tourists regarded Singapore as a stop over to somewhere else. Most spent a night or three but rarely much more.
There’s too many words being wasted on Trump.
We were driving along Limestone Ave when the Ainslie church sign came into view. It is regularly changed and sometimes takes a minute or two to comprehend.
There were moments during the ‘meet the candidates’ forum in Lyneham a fortnight ago when it seemed that something was not right with the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr.
Continue reading The Auditor-General, the Chief Minister and pesky chooks
On Tuesday night there was another debate between the Kurrajong candidates and the electorate – this time staged by the Inner South Canberra Community Council.
Continue reading Inner south residents and Kurrajong candidates
It was indeed a sad story to see serious journalists and scientists trying to debate with the latest of the Australia’s right wing nut jobs on TV.
It should be known well by now that there is no use in using the usual polite and logical approaches with such people. It just feeds into their well practised weird ways of arguing or debating.
A new song from Nick Cave – one you may need to stop and listen to especially when you realise when he wrote it – just after his son had died. Continue reading Nick Cave
From The Guardian UK – a piece about ageism – and how it effects women – and men. click here
Following weeks (or was that months) of questions over land dealings and major developments, and now audits being announced into departmental processes, the Chief Minister has gone on the front foot and announced an idea to change his government’s methods of consulting on ‘Urban Redevelopment’.
click here for the story – by Michael Moore on Trump’s strategy
There’s been a load of positive mainstream press about the wonders of the ACT Government’s major project for the centre of Canberra, The City to Lake Project.
What does it take for the ACT Government to have vision for developments in and around my own suburb of Dickson? I’ll get back to the question.
George has offered a positive take on the Brexit vote. He has published his thoughts on seeing the opportunities despite the nastiness of those who championed the exit vote. Click here.
I cannot say that I understand what the UK lobby for the exit from the EU is all about. Nor can I say which option is the better. Sadly George Monbiot has clarified this with his usual precise summation of a dreadful situation.
More on the Australia’s contribution to the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale
There was another of those special announcements by the Prime Minister today that was supposed to impress.
After so many months of muddle – we now have ‘decisive’ and bold’ actions. Sadly they have so far proved to be mostly hot air. But the press has been impressed.
Response – Revised Development Application 201425744
Australia has had its shared of ‘being turnbulled’ this week. Most of the press as portrayed the Prime Minister’s announcements in a positive light. Whereas the truth is that he has continued to make a mess of things.
There are many nasty things about the current Turnbull government. Granted he is not Abbott, but he has instead installed a very strange set of protocols for how he deals with – or not deals with – many difficult issues.
The good people of Canberra, when they are in an optimistic mood, still believe there is a planning authority (ACTPLA) that consists of a learned group of experts who collectively make evidenced based and objective decisions on planning and development.
Continue reading Searching for Canberra’s planning authority
I don’t think the residents will be holding celebrations about what is being proposed for the new supermarket complex here in downtown Dickson.
Anyone who has been through the Dickson shops lately will have noticed an unsettling trend. The number of vacancies is increasing.
The Dickson Wetlands have been a success both as a water-engineering project (providing water for the nearby sports grounds) and as attractive open space parkland.
A couple of key articles online worth reading…
There are so many stories to be told around the installation of the memorial to the 353 people who drowned while attempting the journey to Christmas Island on 19th October 2001.
Some good thoughts on the current tax debate – click here.
The interviews on the ABC program Kitchen Cabinet are in some cases simply soft propaganda for particular politicians.
I remain totally unconvinced about the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull. I agree that the country is far far better off now that Abbott is no longer out there trying to terrify everyone.
I often wondered whether Abbott was not quite sane – and more recent events have done nothing to dispel this thought.
Oh my god! I have been denied my chance of ever being made a knight in Australia!
The whole of the Barangaroo story is messy. Sydney based architectural writers are not very happy. Yes their chosen few did not get the contract. Yes even the next team did not survive.
There’s no doubt that the ACT Government has put an emphasis on communications and marketing when it comes to particular urban developments. This is very evident in the number of media statements in circulation.
Continue reading Wanted: Quality replacements for Currong Apartments
This sign has been mentioned by me previously – click here.
Continue reading Teams have opponents, communities have friends
We have endured several days of stuff written by the junk journalist writing on the Greece decision to reject the demands of the Intentional Monetary Fund. The Greeks voted no and the journalists have reproduced the media releases of those with ties to the Big Banks. It has taken a few days but at last some real journalism is appearing on this important topic.
One of the faults with Australian democracy remains that many decisions by the elected politicians remain flawed because of the obvious but ignored conflicts of interests.
Over the last year or so a local architect has been writing in the Canberra Times on issues around planning, development and design. Unfortunately his tone has changed somewhat. Or maybe it was always so, and we have only now witnessed the true nature of his advocacy.
I was staring at the image above from the Canberra Times story about a concept that has been accepted for the new Canberra Convention Centre. I was wondering, is this something radical or is it an eyesore? Continue reading Architectural Eyesore
and his continued destruction of Australia’s way of life
If there was anyone left in Australia, who for one minute thought that the current Australian Federal Treasurer was anything but a mean and nasty politician, then all they had to do was observe his latest crimes. This man looks after his rich mates especially Big Coal, Banks and Big Miners; looks after this who pull his strings and keep him in power, Murdoch and their cohorts; and does all this by stripping back opportunities for health and well-being from those most disadvantaged.
Locally the planning authority is notorious for carry out all forms of planning with no real interest in the present residents and no interest in the urban character. It is left to the developers to define how the suburbs of Canberra will look in the future.
About a year ago, we visited Linden Gallery in St Kilda (Melbourne). This was not long after the infamous raid by police following a very dubious complaint about the ‘sexual’ content of an artwork by Paul Yore.
The director of the centre was holding up well given the nature of the issue she was having to deal with. She deserved to have been paid a lot more for all the complex stuff that had come her way.
Bob Menzies, the hero of the Liberal Party. Some of us have other thoughts about this man who wanted to sell out his country.
The Queensland state government spent millions on the Roma Street Parklands. This parkland was set to add huge value to any apartments built around its edges. One would have thought that the City would have insisted on at least some higher levels of design for such buildings. Continue reading Roma Street Parkland, Brisbane, Part Two
Australia has a brilliant history of photography. There is a host of names that have been well published and are well documented.
There are also many who had a significant contribution in their day but who have slipped out of view.
University of Sydney, Macleay Museum
This exhibition is advertised as being of historic photographs from the Pacific spanning a century beginning from the late 1850s. With these words both in advertising and online, the expectations were for an extensive exhibition of photographs of the pacific islands.
The first story was told to me about a proposal being put to someone’s recent board meeting suggesting that the organisation needed to do far more about the status of women in their particular workforce. That is, along with the business councils in Australia, the organisation could devise some manner by which annually they recognise and award the female achievers.
In a world of inequity, the reactions should not have been so surprising.
It is unbelievable to think that Australia has a Prime Minister who in 2014 has been quoted as saying that:
“We have quite enough national parks, we have quite enough locked-up forests already. In fact, in an important respect, we have too much locked-up forest.”
To be honest I am not so sure given the quality of governments people have voted in. But there are signs within local governments that things may be taken seriously at last.
Check out two posts on Sustainable Settlements Institute.
Reasons for Optimism – click here – & – Clover Moore and the City of Sydney – click here
more news about our friends, the Banks!
Amongst the news items in the last week was the report on the enormous profits by Australia’s Commonwealth Bank. This one slipped through while the media was taken up with all the usual superficial distractions.
With all the spin and calls to be patriotic and to use the Navy for its political purposes, the Rabbott government has carried on with its attack on the ABC.
The ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor
I did not think the day would come in my lifetime when I would find myself agreeing with a speech made by a Pope.
There are many issues unresolved about his church and many nasty things that it remains responsible for. It is one house that needs to get so many things in order before it can be credible on the world stage.
However at least on the topic of inequity this Pope seems to have hit the nail on the head.
I have previously made comment about a local church sign on Limestone Avenue. Mid this month, there was this about climate change.
Please click on any photograph to enlarge it.
This message follows another the week before about national issues – click here
The Australian Government is currently not doing much, except to hand power to its business friends.
We expect all manner of stupid decisions to follow soon. That is, once the business groups have worked out what they want this Rabbott Government to do. Hence all the reviews underway, which are being overseen by the business and lobby groups who brought this government to power.
There have been many times I have driven by a particular church along Limestone Ave and have thought about another church and pub on Broadway just south of the Sydney CBD.
Dear old St Barnabas Church burnt down in May 2006. It has since been replaced with a brand new building.
Before the fire, the church was an icon for anyone driving down Broadway into Sydney because of its signage in front of the church that could be read by passing motorists. The church used to frequently change the wording and this was matched by the pub across the road. The banter between the two sets of signs became known as the “Priest and the Publican”.
There was a routine piece in the Canberra Times about the current heat wave, temperature around and above 40 Degrees Celsius, and backyard trees or in some case about the lack of them. The article pointed to the now well established reality, that during such times those residential properties that lacked shade were suffering higher temperatures.
(cross posted from our other blog)