Bad development awards - any where you live?

Webdiary has done a bit of work on bad and allegedly corruptly procured development over the years. This is an issue that brings people together now matter who they vote for. for example, Webdiarist Kevin Rozzoli, who I made the Sydney Morning Herald's online's development and planning commentator for our groundbreaking Grassroots 2003 NSW election site, is a former deputy leader of the NSW Liberal Party, Speaker of the lower house, and shadow minister for local government, planning and environment. I loved this Rozzoli quote:

At the end of the line the people who are basically concerned with environmental planning outcomes are members of the general community. The developer does his development and takes his money and runs, and moves on to the next development. The poor people in the community who live next door to the development are there suffering long after the developer has gone.

Here's the Webdiary archive of 2002/3. Nothing's changed since except State governments, funded big time by developer donations, are taking over development approvals more and more from councils - to the advantage of developers, of course.

2002

Take a stand! (August 22)
City vision (August 29)
Reshuffling the deck (November 1)
Developer heaven, Labor hell (November 7)
Rage in the suburbs (November 8)
Pocket politics: it's about who's in whose pocket (November 14)
Developer heaven on hold, for now (December 19)

2003

The devil in development (January 15)
Meanwhile, in the NSW election... (March 11)
NSW election: an agonising choice (March 19)
Behind Bob Carr's smile (March 26)
Muddying the waters between guardians and traders (June 4)
One Green nation: public call for private donations (Jack Robertson, September 10)
Meet Andy Becker, your fearless honest politics enforcer (September 19)
In bed with developers, Carr tops toaster with harbour as theme park (Harry Heidelberg, October 7)

Here's an email I got yesterday from the NSW Greens. Unfortunately, it's open to NSW developments only, but feel free to tell us about your pet development hate where you live.

                                              The Greens annual
                             Bad Developer Awards 2007

                                    Nominate your favourite Crime
                                              against Amenity

The Greens´ annual Bad Developer Awards are on again.

Seen some shockers out there? Has a developer eaten your suburb? Is your local park about to be turned into an upscale "eco-resort"? Nominations are now open for the annual Bad Developer Awards.
Last year´s Bad Developer Award winners included "Aussie" John Symond´s mansion at Point Piper, a tough one to top. (Margo: the shortlist was this one, BHP-Billiton's longwall coal mine below the Georges River, Appin, I.C&L's White Bay cement works in Balmain, Lend Lease's Spring Cove Residential development in the grounds of St Patrick's catholic seminary in Manly and Stocklands' residential and commercial development at Vincentia on Jervis Bay.)

It´s not all bad though. Awards also go to ecologically-sound developments, community campaigns and Councils that are working to create sustainable communities.

The awards will be presented at the annual gala event, hosted by Sylvia Hale MC, which will take place on September 20 at 6.30pm in the salubrious surrounds of the Teachers Club, 33 Mary Street, Surry Hills, Sydney. Entry is free, nibbles provided, drinks at club prices, cash donations in brown paper bags neither required nor accepted.

Nominations are now open for:

The "Golden Toaster" Award for Crimes Against Amenity

The worst residential development

The worst industrial development

The most environmentally destructive development

The worst Council

The worst Government Department

The most insidious industry group lobbying effort

The best Council

The best community campaign

The best journalistic coverage of planning issues

The best development

For more info, and to get your nominations in, see www.sylviahale.org.au or call 02-9230 3030. Contact: Chris Holley on 02 9230 3030 or 0437 779 546

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Worst hospital administration award

Submitted by Keith Antonysen on August 7, 2007 - 7:30pm.

Mr. Tony Abbott has today shown how much of a sham the Federal Government move on the Mersey Hospital has been. No plan has been shown as to how the Federal Government is going to help the hospital. Mr.Abbott has apparently complained about being treated like a member of the Opposition by the State Health Minister Lara Giddons; yet he made no comment about how the Federal Government has bullied the State Government.

Lara Giddons has indicated that the Federal Government only plans on providing financial support for the hospital till June. Tasmanian Liberal Senator Parry has stated loudly and clearly that he is against the Coalition shock and awe campaign on the Mersey Hospital.

It's another case of trust the Federal Government at your own peril.

The Greens

Submitted by L.Ferguson on August 2, 2007 - 1:26pm.

Margo, Ms Hale, says,“Labor is offering nothing more than a system for monitoring the problem and a new Ministerial position, neither of which will assist one new person into affordable housing.”

I would be interested to see what John Pratt has to say about this Rudd con-job, I would also like him to explain how Rudd is going to bring the price of housing down. I shall wait patiently.

L. Ferguson: for your

Submitted by John Pratt on August 2, 2007 - 2:29pm.

L. Ferguson: for your information, labor's policy on housing affordability.

Federal Labor’s Housing Affordability Fund provides national leadership in responding to Australia’s housing affordability crisis. The Housing Affordability Fund will address the two most significant ‘supply-side’ barriers to the development of new housing:
the cost of developing new infrastructure such as water, sewerage, transport, and parklands, with local government infrastructure charges ultimately paid by the new home buyer; and
the ‘holding costs’ associated with planning and approval delays such as interest, land taxes, council rates and staff costs, which are ultimately paid by the new home buyer.
Under Federal Labor’s plan, local governments will apply through a competitive process to receive grants to cover some of the cost of new housing infrastructure.

In their proposals, local governments, in conjunction with private sector, will have to outline how their proposals will cut red tape and reform the planning processes. They will need to produce an “efficiency dividend” and pass the savings on to home buyers to qualify for any federal funding. Lowering infrastructure charges and holding costs will reduce new housing costs and increase supply.

Innovative, development specific, proposals from State Governments that cut development costs will also be considered under the Housing Affordability Fund. Property Council of Australia estimates that housing linked infrastructure charges can add up to $68,000 on a new home in some parts of suburban Australia.
Australians should not be forced to pay extra for their new homes due to unnecessary planning delays and red tape and increasing infrastructure burdens. Federal Labor’s Housing Affordability Fund will target areas:
Where the lack of infrastructure acts as a barrier to the release or development of land;
Where infrastructure is needed to enable homes to be better linked to where people work and use services like shops, transport and community facilities;
Where high dwelling growth is forecast in greenfield and infill areas; and
Where there is already a demonstrated lack of infrastructure.
Federal Labor will consider expanding the program subject to the private sector’s ability to increase the supply of homes. As funding will only be provided on a merit basis, Federal Labor will encourage the most competitive proposals to increase affordability of new housing and increase supply.

A federal labor government will also work to reduce child care costs.

Federal Labor will establish an Office of Work and Family in the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet to work with the States and Territories and child care providers and publish:
local child care fees;
vacancy data;
breaches of quality standards; and
parental reviews.
Child care costs have doubled under Mr Howard. But Mr Howard recently said that Australian families ‘have never been better off’.
It’s got to the point where mothers have to weigh up whether it’s worth their while going back to work because of the high cost of child care.

Australian families deserve better than a government that’s grown out of touch with their needs. Federal Labor has already announced we will:
Invest $450 million to give every Australian four-year old the right to fifteen hours of high quality preschool every week, delivered by a qualified teacher;and
Build up to 260 new child care centres, particularly in areas of real need and on primary school grounds where possible.

I can read

Submitted by L.Ferguson on August 2, 2007 - 3:03pm.

John Pratt, I can read the policy statement Labor put out, but I asked you how they are going to implement it.

"In their proposals, local governments, in conjunction with private sector, will have to outline how their proposals will cut red tape and reform the planning processes. They will need to produce an “efficiency dividend” and pass the savings on to home buyers to qualify for any federal funding".

In my local Labor controlled council the have never heard of the word "efficiency", and that also applies to the Labor State government. Labor are going to put $500 million into the fund: that is peanuts out in the real world, and will go nowhere.

Aboriginal Art under threat on the Burrup

Submitted by John Pratt on August 2, 2007 - 1:26pm.

The development of a gas plant near ancient Aboriginal rock art on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula would be like destroying art in a museum, a rally in Perth has been told.
About 25 people rallied in the city centre today to urge federal Heritage Minister Ian Campbell to approve the emergency heritage listing of the peninsula, in the north of the state, which contains thousands of rock carvings believed to date back to the Ice Age.

Resources giant Woodside Petroleum wants to develop a gas project on part of the peninsula which would affect 165 carvings.

Scott Ludlam, from Friends of Australian Rock Art, which describes itself as a cultural heritage advocacy group, told the crowd Senator Campbell must act now.

"If I were to ... walk into the Art Gallery of Western Australia and start tearing down art works, I would be locked up as criminally insane'', Mr Ludlam said.

"And yet that is essentially what is being presided over the Burrup Peninsula right now.''

I would like to nominate the aboriginal art that is currently under threat on the Burrup Peninsula. Thousands of rock art paintings are under threat, near Dampier in Western Australia for a development of a gas plant, which could be easily built elsewhere. The destruction of this art is equivalent to the Taliban destroying those Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. Some of this art is still to be discovered and could quite possibly be the first every examples of human art. The spiritual stories told are the aboriginal equivalent of the first ever version of the bible.

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