29 May 2009

Half a million Canberrans by 2050?

| johnboy
Join the conversation
18

The ABC reports that the ACT is now planning for a population of 500,000 by the year 2050.

75% of that is predicated on the ability of Canberrans to make more little Canberrans, the other part from immigration.

I wonder what they’re all going to drink and where they’re going to live?

Join the conversation

18
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

There’s a spare room in my tent.

ChrisinTurner said :

I think IKEA said half a million might be enough.

They keep shifting the goalposts. And they don’t mind if half of southern NSW is trooping up the Hume every weekend to buy from them. In fact, they even have a truck that comes to Canberra every week… we had to get a bit of something that was left behind, and they sent it down on their truck.

At the recycling roadside bins our council puts out, I frequently notice Ikea packaging in them. I’d say their current model is quite satisfactory for them! They’re about to build a mega-Ikea in a paddock near Sydney Airport.

ChrisinTurner9:45 pm 29 May 09

I think IKEA said half a million might be enough.

baueran said :

The solution to coping with Canberra winters is to build proper houses.

there is that.

40 years? Damn, the million needed for an Ikea seems impossibly far away…

kobez_outlaw7:20 pm 29 May 09

I think Canberra will reach 500,000 before 2050. The ABS includes Canberra and Queanbeyan as the same statistical division which passed 400,000 last year. As for water, they’ll think of something. I do hope that water levels reach high enough by then that we can have a beach. lol

OMG! Does this mean we’ll have to move the 6 Degrees of Separation drinking game at work out to 7 degrees?

lumnock said :

I’m also curious about what they’re all going to drink. I was under the impression that our water supply would be hard pressed to handle 500,000. Anyone got any figures on this?

People are going to drink water that is available. Even in the driest years the ACT is a nett exporter of water because there are catchments not being utilised. There is also no reason why urban dwellers in the ACT cannot secure rights to water that flows through the ACT in the Murrumbidgee River. This is a political not an engineering problem.

The ACT Government has failed to spell out what Canberra’s real water situation is. It suits them to be able to throw all the blame for our present situation onto a drought that they say could not be predicted and to allow it to be mixed up with an only slightly related issue, the over allocation of water for irrigation in the entire Murray Darling. The ACT just don’t have sufficient storage to cope with droughts of this severity.

Historic average flows in all the ACT catchments are 230GL per year. 380000 people are presently (with restrictions) extracting about 25GL nett from the Murrumbidgee River system, about I% of what is extracted and 0.6% of total flow

Ant you’ve got ‘economist’ mixed up with ‘businessman/woman”

The fundamental problem around which the whole of economics is based is “How do we satisfy unlimited wants with limited resources?”

Note the recognition of limited resources.
I can handle the police/cyclist/any other type of person bashing based on ignorance, but not economics bashing!

There’s always this pull between the way economists see this issue, vs the way people actually want to live.

Economists need for there to be consumption, economic activity, growth. People, OTOH, place value on quality of life, amenity…. having sufficient water with which to live, that kind of thing.

Lack of water is a good thing to an economist, as it generates economic activity as water is sourced in some way that requires money (pipes, de-salination, limited supply of water equalling water being more expensive).

So beware of letting economic thought drive this kind of issue and keep asking questions.

The solution to coping with Canberra winters is to build proper houses.

punkarella said :

What I find interesting is they factor in that people want to live here when they are retired.
Not saying that it’s a bad place to live, quite the opposite but my bones don’t think I could take too many more Canberra winters when I’m 67.

A lot of Canberrans have made the mistake of retiring on the Eurobodalla and Sapphire Coasts and then realising that all the health services they require are back in Canberra. My father is almost 67 and he has a smaller place on the coast but has kept his house up here. He is pragmatic enough to know that in 5-10 years he will need to be in Canberra full-time for specialist health care. His friends on the coast say “when are you going to sell up and live here permanently?” and then in the next breath say “I’ve got an appointment at the specialist in Canberra, can I stay with you?”

My father’s solution to the cold winters – ducted gas.

I noticed yesterday that signs are up for the land auction at North Weston.

Molonglo: East, Central and West.

And their own urine. treated of course.

zeirholz and west macgregor.

What I find interesting is they factor in that people want to live here when they are retired.
Not saying that it’s a bad place to live, quite the opposite but my bones don’t think I could take too many more Canberra winters when I’m 67.

Plus what I also find interesting is Canberra’s dependence on Government jobs.
If the population is aging you would think that the growth in the Government services would only be in the health sector, and we would see a decline in other departments?

A lot of water under the bridge between now and 2050 (so to speak).

I’m also curious about what they’re all going to drink. I was under the impression that our water supply would be hard pressed to handle 500,000. Anyone got any figures on this?

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.