Media and opinion writers when criticising the government of the day, traditionally keep the focus on the politicians and not their bureaucrats. Then there was Robodebt.
Category Archives: professions
Understanding landscape should be the chief qualification
ACT Government needs a chief landscape specialist
Many decades ago when talking to a staff member of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) in their 220 Northbourne office about urban and social matters, I was distracted by the view south from the 9th floor office window.
Continue reading Understanding landscape should be the chief qualification
ACT Government shrugs at audit reports
ACT Government marked down – again
When looking at the use of public money, I want to focus on two ACT Auditor-General reports one year apart.
ACT Government and NGO silence
The silence of those who should know better
Canberra used to have an active level of advocacy across the spectrum of arts, social and welfare groups.
The ACT Builders and ACT planning directorate
The little guys beaten by a care less bureaucracy
Talk to a builder, a building designer/architect or tradesperson working in Canberra’s construction and soon the conversation turns to the frustrations of having to work through development applications (DAs) with what is seen as the badly managed ACT Government’s planning directorate. click here for more
ACT chief planner fails his own test
Chief planner’s quotes come home to haunt him
Two years ago the new ACT chief planner, Ben Ponton, went on the record in the daily paper with a statement about how wonderful he would be. I have used those statements to assess whether he has met his own key performance indicators (KPIs). He didn’t!
Here’s the piece in City News – click here.
White Males
Another listing of white males
Every time this happens from within government bureaucracies, it makes you wonder.
architecture and constitution ave
Back in 2013 plans were announced for the next stage of Canberra’s Constitution Avenue.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton makes a fiery commencement speech at her alma mater – taking aim at Trump and his colleagues. She makes the speech nearly 50 years after graduating from Wellesley College in 1969
Architecture
a note to the ACT Chief Minister
About the architecture along Northbourne Avenue
Being Turnbulled
Has Turnbull TRUMPed Abbott
a sad story about how Turnbull and his Murdoch allies are doing their best to Turnbull (stuff up) the country’s advances with renewables. Click on the image above.
About privatisation
Another insightful piece from John Menadue – this time about: Privatisation is costing consumers and damaging economic reform. Click here.
Being Turnbulled
Australia is being Turnbulled – again
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.
A voice from behind a pillar
The photo above has a weird architectural feature that reminded me of an event that was even stranger.
Barangaroo in 2015
Barangaroo Point to open in March 2015
This is good news. Sydney is to have a new harbourside parkland that is due to be opened in March this year. The background to this is a wonderful story worthy of a screen play.
Worlds dominated by committees
Comment on time-wasting
There is something that makes certain people believe that if they attend loads of committee meetings that they are actually doing something useful. Whereas the truth is that all they are doing is attending loads of committee meetings.
Leadership in Design
Leadership in design of the built environment
I was attending a meeting of combined community council two years ago, when to members of the public who were in attendance made very similar appeals. Both were very upset with the quality of the redevelopments that had appeared within their street, despite the local communities objections about key aspects of the developments.
As far as I could ascertain, they were not necessarily opposed to the infill of their suburb. It was more about the nature of the apartments being built.
Cities and Biodiversity
Re-posted from The Nature of Cities
Cities and biodiversity and national parks.
It is about equating the Natural Environment of National Parks to the natural environment of Cities – there are the one environment!
Many the time I have had frustrating debates with bureaucracies over how we address the issues of biodiversity and landscape. Often it results in the otherwise intelligent bureaucrat insisting that we talk about two separate entities, the built environment and the natural environment. This perception has also surfaced in discussions with organisations such as Conservation Foundations and their like.
Education in ecology and biodiversity
The Nature of Cities
Education in ecology and biodiversity
If cities look to stay within their boarders, there is the need to seek acceptable ways to intensify the number of residents within the older suburbs. This requires an intelligent engagement with the present residents of suburban areas on a case by case basis.
Given the need to address climate change within the suburbs as they are being redeveloped and upgraded throws up a host of requirements that should have by now have been built into legislation. Sadly this is not so as most of the re-development and intensification as been left to laissez-faire market forces.