23 July 2008

Causeway carefactor?

| johnboy
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The Shadow Minister for Housing, Jacqui Burke, is taking up cudgels for the residents of Causeway who can’t get any maintenance done on their soon to be bulldozed houses, and yet can’t get official confirmation it’s going to happen.

Outrageous? Or bulldoze ASAP?

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Good point, bundybear. These are peoples’ homes. We imagine they care about them, they’re used to living there, and now they wonder what’s going to happen, and when? A rotten way to live. It’s really quite unfortunate the way people don’t care about others in this situation any more.

Would “The Castle’ strike a chord nowadays? Or would the family be called nimbies? we mustn’t interfere in the activities of developers, they’re going to make some money. The Causeway was there before Canberra was, a lot of the people who built Canberra lived there. Before the lake, before developers. Let’s at least look at what’s going on, take an interest, and make sure ordinary people aren’t being trampled so that spivs in suits can make a fast buck.

Work with this for a second. ACT govt. sends you a letter saying they think they are going to compulsorily acquire your home but they’ll let you know for sure sometime in the future. In the meantime, just suck it up and try to have a life.

Does it matter if you own the house or are a housing tenant? Don’t think so.

We all know they are going to resume the land and sell it to a developer, let them have the balls to come right out and say so, and tell the residents what the plan is for their future. And the sooner the better!!! At least then they can start to make some plans for their future.

They always talk of how many houses they could buy with these profits.

But do they buy them??

johnboy said :

pushing the line on personal abuse there BD.

It may have been somewhat harsh, but not abusive :]

miz said :

BD – no one’s saying those flats weren’t horrible. It’s the pitiful excuses for flogging off the the highest bidder. They SAY they are interested in housing people, but if the land is valuable they flog it. Case in point Deb Foskey’s house. Sold to the highest bidder, instead of housing a needy family.

Watch this space – Causeway is next.

Of course if the land is valuable they will sell it, it’s good business sense, and I’d be worried if they weren’t selling the property to the highest bidder too. For one block of land + house on a valuable block they will most likely to be able to purchase two houses of a similar size and house twice as many people. They don’t just sell houses and keep the money for themselves, it all gets used on purchasing new properties.

Selling the multiflat developments like Fraser Court would decrease the number of properties and they probably won’t get one for one in its place, but they will be able to buy bigger houses in some cases and in turn it also sees less build up of the disadvantaged in one area.

The Causeway land will most likely be valuable too, I’d expect them to be able to buy many more houses than is currently there for the price the land may fetch.

BD – no one’s saying those flats weren’t horrible. It’s the pitiful excuses for flogging off the the highest bidder. They SAY they are interested in housing people, but if the land is valuable they flog it. Case in point Deb Foskey’s house. Sold to the highest bidder, instead of housing a needy family.

Watch this space – Causeway is next.

No, Jakez.

There is a small proportion of privately owned housing in the Causeway.

These are the residents to whom I refer. Hopefully well compensated residents, for their foresight in purchasing their homes.

“There’s a lot of history in that there Causeway, and we should be very careful about just brushing it aside so quickly. Heritage is important for us and future generations, who can put a price one our culture, for without it we are worthless.”

Run down 1970s welfare housing dumped in the middle of an industrial area important for future generations? Only as an example of execrable town planning – and it doesn’t need to remain there to stand as a warning.

cranky said :

So what are the minority who own their houses to do? Are they going to be offered anywhere near the commercial value for their properties, bearing in mind the agravation factor they could cause if they decided not to sell?

Shades of ‘The Castle’.

This could be political dynamite for Sonic and Co.

Million dollar 3 beddys’. Whoohoo!

The Castle was about eminent domain. The Kerrigan’s owned their home.

The Causeway is Government owned housing.

Not to diminish the plight of the Causwegians, but it isn’t even close to a shade of The Castle.

Pandy: By my understanding (and I may need to re-read my WBG maps to be sure) there’s no need to bulldoze Causeway the suburb to build The Causeway – the road it was always designed to run alongside the suburb and the resultant extra lake was going to make Causeway a waterfront area. Indeed, if you actually go for a drive down there, the original alignment of The Causeway is clearly visible as a big dual carriageway with a tree-lined median going nowhere in particular.
Like you, I’d kind of like to see it built to finish up WBG’s plan for the three lake crossings, but I honestly can’t see it happening these days what with environmental concerns over the wetlands. A shame, in some ways, but in other ways its nice to see that environmental concerns are more prominent in today’s decision making.

On that matter of the houses, I tend to think that even people in public housing should be provided with some degree of certainty (even if it is of the form “your current house will be bulldozed in 6 months and you will be moved to suburb X”). Maybe twin venom is right that few people in that situation are trying to help themselves, but it still makes it more difficult for the few who are.

Prehaps if the ACT govt sold the blocks to a developer, but part of the contract involves the ACT gov’t getting the same number of brand new units back that they currently have govie houses on the site. then the people who live there now can move back into nice luxury apartments.

captainwhorebags7:49 am 24 Jul 08

Well technically none of the causeway residents own the land there. Just like everyone else in the ACT. If the govt wants the land, they can give appropriate notice and cancel the lease. Not a very nice thing to do though. I don’t know how the constitutional section on compulsory acquisition “on just terms” applies in the ACT – if at all (for fans of The Castle – Section 51, Para xxxi).

I remember when I bought my block the lease agreement had a “nominal rent” of 5c per annum, so evict them based on non payment of rent 🙂

Of course, everyone can afford courts. And the “just terms” are determined by valuers working for people with vested interest in getting the residents out so the developers can move in and make their profits. Too bad about people who like living in their homes.

It happens all the time, there are valuers and if they don’t like it there are courts.

‘Just terms’ – Who establishes the value? The open market for a similar residence in Narrabundah/Griffith/Kingston would,I suggest, bring three quite disparite values.

Throwing the potential for slowing/stopping the wholesale redevelopment of the Causeway by these owners, who does establish a ‘just’ price for these properties.

Compensated on just terms.

Happens all the time.

How dare those nimby Causeway people stop some rich developer making lots of money? Let’s get them! grrrr.

So what are the minority who own their houses to do? Are they going to be offered anywhere near the commercial value for their properties, bearing in mind the agravation factor they could cause if they decided not to sell?

Shades of ‘The Castle’.

This could be political dynamite for Sonic and Co.

Million dollar 3 beddys’. Whoohoo!

pushing the line on personal abuse there BD.

Start up the bulldozers, then drive it along to the northbourne flats and buildings surrounding it and use it liberally there.

miz said :

Why should convenient locations (on the lake to boot) like Kingston be only the domain of wealthy people?

The usual excuse of this govt – wheeled out once again yesterday after Fraser Court was flogged, ie, that they can ‘use the money we get from this formerly ordinary but now-prime real estate to buy more cheap houses (subtext: on the outskirts where it’s cheaper, who cares that there are no services) – just won’t wash any more. Why can’t they stay? Sounds like pure avarice to want these tenants out.

Obviously you have no clue about anything. First of all the flats were totally uninhabitable and beyond repair from all the filth who have destroyed them, selling them was the only option. Anything that would have been built in their place on the site would not have been fully public housing due to the government not wanting to have condensed areas of public housing creating slums as seen in most other states. Furthermore, you will find that Housing purchase houses all over Canberra not just on the outskirts, also part of the policy mentioned above.. one of the requirements is close to transport, obviously it’s not going to be stopping outside your front door. Try doing some research first, policies on their website.

V twin venom9:33 pm 23 Jul 08

@#6
“If the tenants don’t like living there, why don’t they move out to something else?

As far as I’m concerned, public housing is about helping those who can’t provide housing for themself – not those who simply choose not to. Given that they are getting housing (typically at a discounted rate), they can take what they’re given. Why shouldn’t the govt develop higher value land as a source of income?

I spent time in public housing as a kid, and very few people seemed to me to be trying to help themselves.”

Harsh and heartless but fair.

One of the issues is that noone will tell then what they will get instead and noone will confirm if and when they will have to move.

They could be sent to Oaks estate, where apparently the govt has empty housing that is so bad noone wants it.

It’s not that they won’t be given another equivalent house.

How many people do you want to sleep on the street tonight to guarantee the lucky few their security of tenure?

And as if the libs would do it differently!

Yep – get those lazy pensioners onto a chain gang!

Agreed VY. I read about this in the crimes earlier in the week. Some of those people have been there ~30 years.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy8:19 pm 23 Jul 08

If the tenants don’t like living there, why don’t they move out to something else?

As far as I’m concerned, public housing is about helping those who can’t provide housing for themself – not those who simply choose not to. Given that they are getting housing (typically at a discounted rate), they can take what they’re given. Why shouldn’t the govt develop higher value land as a source of income?

I spent time in public housing as a kid, and very few people seemed to me to be trying to help themselves.

I feel sorry for the causeway residents – noone wants to live with not knowing what their future holds. But I think that area will be more mega apartments pretty soon.

Why should convenient locations (on the lake to boot) like Kingston be only the domain of wealthy people? The usual excuse of this govt – wheeled out once again yesterday after Fraser Court was flogged, ie, that they can ‘use the money we get from this formerly ordinary but now-prime real estate to buy more cheap houses (subtext: on the outskirts where it’s cheaper, who cares that there are no services) – just won’t wash any more. Why can’t they stay? Sounds like pure avarice to want these tenants out.

Put ACTPLA in charge of preserving it …. that should see it replaced by five story luxury units, supermarkets ….

There’s a lot of history in that there Causeway, and we should be very careful about just brushing it aside so quickly. Heritage is important for us and future generations, who can put a price one our culture, for without it we are worthless.

I have a soft spot for the Causeway. Bulldoze it and build the Causway across the Molonglo as Griffin envisaged, thereby flooding the Jerrabomberra wetlands, creating more water front properties.

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