Commenting on the story: Build it and the infrastructure will come – hopefully

No surprises that the housing industry and developers’ lobby reject infrastructure concerns. The standard order of events:

a) Developers sell houses to people looking forward to a new life.
b) Developers profit, depart, and wash their hands of the mess left behind.
c) Government spends years catching up with infrastructure.

All assurances that it will be better planned this time are only words. If the government is truly serious about provision of infrastructure, build it before the people arrive. If that happens, I stand corrected. – Stephen Morris

The irony is palpable: housing development failures due to lack of planning. What exactly have our Ministers for (lack of) Planning done all these years, other than leave us with huge unfunded infrastructure liabilities. Never mind, it all looked good at the time and that’s all that counts for politicians; just win the next election and if we don’t then the next lot can sort it all out.

If you want to know how well planned this next housing development will be, just follow the money. How much currently appears in the forward funding estimates for relevant government agencies? Not much, I bet, it’s all on a wing and a prayer, dependent on Feds contributing for roads and passenger transport, and if they don’t, well, the development failure will be their fault. It is a pity this state is so tied to the coat-tails of the Commonwealth for economic development, but then that has been the modus operandi for many decades. – Paul McKinnon

LGA president Dean Johnson mirrors other development lobby groups when he says: “… local councils need State Government support through investment in the necessary physical and social infrastructure – such as public transport, schools, hospitals, roads, and reliable access to basic utilities like electricity and water – as this enables new communities to be sustainable, integrated, and liveable as they grow.”

This is the standard spin. ‘Not my problem’, say the developers.

The planning rot started with the Libs in ’97. The progressive takeover of Adelaide’s state planning assessment and policy then fell to Labor in ’02. It progressed through the Holloway planning minister era (Rann), when Mt Barker’s debacle ran amok. It hit high gear when Rau took the helm (Weatherill).

Rau’s 2012 major development plan amendments saw the introduction of the catastrophic ‘catalyst site’ concept, ruining the amenity of scores of communities, such as Churchill Road and Unley Road, and leaving the City of Adelaide a plundered city state.

Now, Minister Champion’s breathtaking spin that Mt Barker was a success story contradicts all of the available evidence. In this story, several developer apologists reveal the same old game – that local government or state government must pay for all of the infrastructure for all new subdivisions. Without this, the juicy profit margins disappear.

Malinauskas’s pledge to create a little unit to somehow bring back ‘orderly development’ is rather similar to his ‘fix ramping’ pledge. It’s ‘gesture politics’, signifying nothing. It started with Rann and, 20 years later, Malinauskas is carrying on the tradition. Labor loves its ‘tradition’. You don’t actually have to deliver anything. – John Bridgland

Commenting on the story: Ousted mayors and councillors get second chance

Finally some commonsense in regards council issues. What a nice change! – Gerry Cafaro

Why is the current State government rewarding ousted mayors and councillors for failing to undertake reporting requirements for which they are required by legislation to abide by.

Why is the State government exonerating members who were negligent in their duties by not complying and who are obviously embarrassed by this circumstance, to allow them to avoid the statutory outcome arising from it.

If members are unable to undertake this function, who knows what other errors or omissions would be potentially possible as this obligation clearly was met by most to whom were obliged to do so, but those who failed to comply get rewarded by a  State Government covering up for them. – Rod Ralph

Commenting on the story: Ambo union says trust ‘trashed’ between it and Libs

It seems the ambulance union is a department of the Labor party. Whilst extremely activist against the Marshall government, it is now placid under Labor, despite ramping worsening. If it were not so, it would still be showing the same signs of concern. – John Gibson