Social housing in Canberra as overseen by the ACT Government is not something seen as being well done. Here in Canberra’s inner north residents are involved in a long running battle to save some precious community land being rezoned for residential use – with social housing being used as the Trojan Horse. Here’s my piece in City News
People are sick of the dumb statements that infill is necessary and therefore we must give up our cherished suburbs for high-rise. This is stupid.
The government’s real message on infill is not for residents but for developers seeking a green light to carry on as usual. Here’s my piece on this topic – click here.
On December 5 our blessed planning minister, Mick Gentleman, ascended Mount Ainslie to hand down the 2018 ACT Planning Strategy. This was just another media performance to try to convince someone that this government takes planning serioulsy.
It does not.
Here’s my piece in City News on this silly performance.
When your government plays dirty and is not transparent – things get really tough for the local residents.
Rebecca Solnit has written about regimes such as Trump’s do not last forever.
I have a new piece on City News that goes part of the way to addressing the sad state of heritage under this ACT Government.
George Monbiot writes about the signs for change. Please make it happen.
Once you realise how corrupted the ACT Government is – it would be so easy to get depressed and walk away.
It is now part of our daily lives that people bear the brunt of increased charges brought on by large corporations inventing more ways to gouge consumers.
Continue reading Chief Minister gouges strata title unit owners
Observing the current government and its attitude towards the electorate, it does make you wonder about the 2016 election results and whether this will be repeated in 2020.
I can only guess how many committee meetings have been held to discuss some aspect of how to improve Civic– the traditional urban centre of the city of Canberra.
It only usually takes a moment to gauge what sort of service you are to receive when you enter a café.
A week or so ago the ACT Planning Minister announced that the government was open for consultations on the Dickson Parklands (Section 72 to the bureaucrats).
Often when posting on planning and development in Canberra, someone will comment that things were so much better when the Commonwealth, through the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) ran the joint.
A new year and already the look, the aesthetics, and the whole nature of what will be the new Northbourne Ave gateway to the National Capital is up for discussion.
My post last week on the lack of good design and planning that is evident in the more recent parts of Gungahlin definitely caught a lot of people’s attention.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote on the threats to biodiversity caused through inappropriate developments across Canberra.
Continue reading Gungahlin – urgent climate adaptation required
With Canberra having such an informed and aware community, one would have thought that a community-focused government planning minister would have surfaced by now – one being committed to development and the future growth of the city while simultaneously embracing the enhancement of (rather than reducing) the city’s amenities that are admired internationally.
In Australia we have a small band of conservatives who work tirelessly to have their brands of religion have a greater influence on government and the country’s laws.
Luckily till now they are more of less not so successful – well most of the time.
In their last round of attempts to achieve more religious freedoms (whatever that meant) – what would have been more applicable would have been to remove religion and the influence of such religious fundamentalists completely from the workings of government.
Meanwhile in a land not far away – things are going from bad to worse.
Click here for the story in the Guardian.
Life for pedestrians in Dickson is not as safe as it should be. Here’s a few events to illustrate my point.
The 2016 ACT election was just over 12 months ago (how time flies) and the hot election topics back then included planning, development, community engagement and a host of issues around the ACT Government’s dealings with residents.
Just months ago a Luton’s auctioneer stated that the property going under the hammer was the only house for sale in Dickson.
Some issues just do not go away. Dogs that are dangerous or potentially dangerous is such a topic.
Here’s a message from me – and the many others who suffered through the flu recently:
This goes out to those thoughtful people who insisted on going out into public areas when they had the flu.
Welcome Bill Shorten, the next Prime Minister of Australia
Australia has been Turnbulled yet again – click here
The words populism and populist have no simple, coherent meaning.
A good article summing up the state of politics, where truth is an option to be discarded.
You will often hear commentators state that politicians are unpopular. I don’t think it as simple as that.
Analysis shows that while land values per acre rose at 2.2% per annum, land rents fell by 0.3% per annum in the 1800s. Powerhouse Museum/Flickr, CC BY-SA
It is definitely time for all forms of peaceful and concerted actions to adjust our democratic structures to deal with the damage being done by forces that have resulted in Trump and his cronies being where they are.
the democracy experiment continues – but will it get beyond the influence of neoliberalism
While Australia is a great country – it has been a long time since we have experienced a government that was actually committed to its culture.
Being TurnbulledOnce Australia was a leader in supporting equality and was generous in its assistance to other countries. Oh how things have changed. Here’s a post from Michael Moore on the greedy nature of the Turnbull government – click here.
Very strange things happen in the urban design planning space in Canberra.
There’s definitely something evil being played out locally.
George Monbiot on how dark money is subverting democracy in the UK.
Click on the banner above
Very strange events have been unfolding since the local ACT elections in late 2016.
We expect a lot of our politicians. People rightly expect their elected representatives to do just that – be representatives of the people who elected them. That’s not always a success story.
There’s significant redevelopment underway on Northbourne Ave in Canberra.
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.
Music Review: Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway, February 2017My 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.
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.
Very good article about this event – click on the image
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.
Click on the image for the story about the Arts District development along L.A. River
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.
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.
click on image for the piece from The Guardian.
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.
