Simon again fails to answer the questions, this time with Snow

You can’t count federal PS salaries as a subsidy of Canberra – the people being paid those salaries are providing a service to the country in return. Put simply, the rest of the country is choosing to buy what we’re selling.

Part of this net migration, though, might be due to an aging popluation. Oddly enough, as you get older, you’re not going to choose to live in a city that has very, very cold winters. You might choose to live somewhere that’s a bit warmer, like, say, Queensland.

I’d severely doubt that people are moving to Queensland just because they love their planning laws.

And call me a Stahnope apologist, naive or aloof, but I love Canberra pretty much the way it is.

No we should not apologise … but we must respect the contribution that the rest of the country makes to our well being, even our affluence.

We are not above other places but we can stand amongst them. I think however that our overly officious planning laws (or unrepresentative swill as i have called them before)does limit the vibrancy and colour of the city.

This make us seem inaccessable to most in the very nation of which we aspire to represent. Lurking in the undergrowth is an element of aloofment (if their is such a word)that says what is that how the rest of the country lives is too inferior for us (could stand being like Sydney blah blah). This would not be an issue if we ourselves were self-sustaining, but we are not.

i also believe that this lack of autheticity that comes with an over planned city is driving people away from Canberra. Over the past 5 years there has been a net interstate migration of over 3,500 away from Canberra. This is people voting with their feet.

In the current booming economic environment, the ACT unemployment rate is 3.2% and the PS is recruiting hand over fist and last year we attracted a total additional 67 people from interstate (first positive figure in over seven years). Canberra is sustaining itself only on the growth of a heavy spending government. How many schools will close when the next razor gang comes through?

Stanhope slashed the economic development agenda in the last ACT budget – the impact of that will be felt in the future. The planning debate is only part of the bigger and concerning issue of Canberra’s future as a city in its own right as opposed to a life support mechanism for the public sector.

Amen, bonfire.

Not to mention the fact that if you’re a retailer, you have to be beholden to the 24/7 shopping culture, or go out of business.

SLBrown – agree that Canberra is not self sustaining…but is that because Canberra is souless and empty; or because we’ve been given an economic basis in the form of a truckload of government jobs and the town and economy has grown around that?

We’re never going to have suburbs that look like Mosman or Toorak or Newtown. The conditions are all wrong…and I think it’s about bloody time we stopped having to apologise for it.

i dont understand the retail obsession.

i recall a kinder gentler age when shops closed at lunch time on saturday. you could relax in the afternoon and have a relaxing sunday with your family.

now its retail retail retail 24 x 7.

Simon Corbell has some answering to do.

The Canberra Times reported that controversy at the Epicentre site at Fyshwick resulted in a closed session at a committee hearing. Simon appeared to give his interpretation of the Territory Plan (see my extract above).

Simon to be transparent and accountable within government will you release your reasoning and advice from Neil Savery (ACTPLA head)? I fail to understand how, I presume, a single lease can allow 30,000m2 of fashion retail under the Territory Plan.

I think that if you withhold this information from the public gaze, the spot light on you will be far harsher down the track.

Don’t associate your government actions with that of a bad Sydney council.

So are you telling me that if the Government stopped collecting tax and spending it Canberra would be self sustaining.

What drugs are you on?

Just about everyones job in Canberra is paid for by the rest of the country.

Denial again, I wonder why the country takes a dim view of Canberra. I’m from the Government and its not cost you a cent.

Caf beat me to it. We pay more in tax than we consume. Tasmania is the reverse!

Canberra does NOT have to become a Little Sydney in order to justify itself, either. And with decent planning in place, it can be what it is better. I’m not sure that ACTPLA are the ones to successfully do it though.

Why don’t you just compare it to Coronation Street ?

Big rows of identical houses, shoved in together with a small grocery store and a solitary clothing factory for a job. (that’s coro street)

Seems like we’ve not learned a fucking thing since the 30’s.

This city is a net tax exporter.

Oh how the denial morons come out to play… I am not suggesting factories in suburbia.

Why didn’t you compare it with Mosman, Neutral Bay, North Sydney, Cremourne, Bulimba, Newstead, Newmarket…… all the other suburbs in Australia that don’t have factories next to houses and where another 19 million people manage to live and provide the tax income to support this city.

Never been to Mt Druitt then SLB?

More to my point Johnboy!!

The planning NAZI’s are killing Canberra – no imagination what so ever. Yes Sydney does have problems as does many places – but mass school closures, row and row s of little houses made of ticky tacky, shops and amenities in places that people don’t go to and general boredom don’t seem to be amongst them.

Or they could set down decent zoning guidelines and walk away from the process of what people do within it.

But without ministerial discretion how is a political party to extort donations from developers and ensure the “right”union is employed in the construction?

Oh hooray then we can have industrial businesses next door to our houses, just like Sydney!

All planners to the guillotine!!!!

limit the involvement to issues like noise, traffic creation, infrastructure requirements, pollution creation, smells etc

“c) to protect the hierarchy of commercial centres and accessibility for consumers”

What the???????????

rertail monarchy! Viva la Republic I say

Dosn’t look like there’s anything in there about boutique retail yet the Govt. seems to be entertaining the idea nonetheless …

The Territory Plan

Part B3 Industrial Land Use Policies Variation 175 1st July 2003

http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/tplan/index.htm applies to the purple bits on the map of Fyshwick

The site in question is a Precinct ‘b’;

“In Precinct ‘b’, the maximum gross floor area for any supermarket or shop selling food shall be 200 m2 and other shops except bulky goods retailing shall be 3000 m2 except as provided for in Section 4.

4. AREA SPECIFIC POLICIES
The role of Fyshwick is to provide for mixed commercial, motor vehicle sales, service and home improvement businesses with a metropolitan catchment; large sites for manufacturing, wholesale, storage and transport related activities requiring good access to the Airport; regional bulky goods retailing with good access to major transport corridors and a cluster for regional food enterprises.

4.2 PRECINCT ‘b’ – RETAIL WAREHOUSE AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES
Primary purposes
a) to provide an accessible location for commercial and service activities with a metropolitan or regional catchment;
b) to meet the need for a mix of lower rent bulky goods retailing, specialised industrial, commercial and service activities alongside general industry;
c) to protect the hierarchy of commercial centres and accessibility for consumers;
d) to encourage redevelopment of older industrial sites particularly with high visibility to major roads;
e) to provide opportunities for industries and bulky goods retailing requiring a visible location to be located near main transport routes;
f) to preserve a viable industrial base which can coexist with more commercially oriented uses;
g) to make provision for small scale industrial services which support surrounding industrial activities.

3.6 Unit Title Subdivision
A subdivision of a lease under the Unit Titles Act 2001 may only be approved where the lease expressly provides for the number of units provided for in the proposed subdivision.”

Ant is right.

I have not seen the development conditions that went #with# the sale of the land. Has anyone here?

The Planning Department issues what is to be sold and with what conditions. It is then handed over to the LDA for sale. Don’t balme the LDA, someone in ACTPLA maybe working under orders allowed the change, if there was a change.

Time will tell.

that should be would NOT be in a privileged position …

that should be would NOT be in a privileged position …

Sack them all and let the market prevail more. Innovation happens when people are free to win to and to lose. Snow would be in a privileged position if it wasn’t for the redtape created by the monopoly landowner

That’s just what we need, another bloody Westfield! Words fail me. More of the same shops. That ACT Planning Department need to be the ones up answering questions, I think.

Local ABC had Simple Simon and Snow on this morning. Corbell was bleating on about how the whole planning spat was being driven by Snow’s commercial interests … so big deal. At least it’s being driven by something – not like planning policy in this town being driven by a dead fish asleep at the wheel!

If Snow’s figures are to be believed it looks like the Stanhope Government has duded Canberrans out of around $60m on the sale of the Fyshwick ‘bulky goods’ site – nice job guys … I wonder how many schools could have been kept running with that sort of money?

Snow’s argument is that the site was specifically for bulk goods retail – more of what Fyshwick already has – kitchen appliances, barbecues, furniture, bedding etc. Now it seems that the Government, contrary to its own and the NCA’s planning requirements, is allowing specialty retail into that mix with a couple of acres of boutique clothing, fashion etc at a scale that will dwarf the revamped Canberra Centre – on the business side it’s pretty obvious that this is what’s shitting Snow as it’s going to go head-to-head with his brand outlet store at the airport but he’s got a point: as a bulky goods site $39m was over-priced, but as a retail site – with the likes of Westfield and QIC bidding – it would be easily worth around $100m. Good one Simon – I just hope that some of your shinny-arsed bureaucrats at the Land Development Agency are high on the list of 500 pubes to get the chop mate, ‘cause they deserve it.

canberra is run by a lot of unrepresentative swill that want to plan your every part of life. Take your fingers off the trigger and let the city evolve naturally.

No wonder the rest of the country cannot identify with their own capital (see Nova ad) and more Canberrans have left the city than have arrived.

Planners – people are voting with their feet. It is not an academic excercise of social planning based on models – it is life and lfe can get messy.

Well each to their own. I was replying to the allegation that I was somehow working for the Labor Party. I offer you an alternative in the real world of politics and opening doors and being seriously heard. Seems that folks here are hell bent in wanting Simon to get-out without giving thought to who will take-over the reins over the next few years. Already, public transport planning has been taken off Simon and given to John(I love to drive)Hargraves. Look what he is doing; the busway is dead; Action being cut-back. A vision? Nope, but reality yes.

The experiment with the minor parties is over from the days of the Tomato Party. Even the Greens have lost votes.

Vote Greens and get one lone voice in the wilderness in the seat of Molonglo. Vote for anyone else and your preferences will flow on to the Libs or Labor.

No point in holding your breath and thumping the table saying this or that minister is a dickhead. As Kate Carnell once said to some lobby group that was doing just that, “I don’t have to be at this table”.

I know of several decent candiates in the minor parties last time. Equality Party comes to mind. What happened to them? And what about that Liberal woman who became an independent she spent thousands on her campaign, certain that her name brand would get her across the line.

You can even vote for the greens and second-preference the Liberals if you want to, Pandy. Or (shock horror) go for an independant candidate. Yes, I know last time around we had the monster-raving-looney from the small-business party, but possibly someone decent might put up a showing next time.

So Pandy the fact we’re forced to choose the lesser of evils requires up to offer up our ongoing allegiance?

That’s crap. Unless you’re paying membership dues to the party you’re not a “liberal” or a “labor” person.

Well you can vote for the Greens then and have your vote count go to Labor.

I can’t see why all the vitriol directed at Corbell. From what I see (I don’t read the CT but do watch the commercial and ABC Canberra TV news), he’s pretty open. People complain if politicians tell lies, but then if they are honest and open, people launch attacks at that, too.

Planning in the ACT is not brilliant. Can you *really* sheet that home to one person? Of course not. Easy yes, accurate no.

The airport is a debacle. Snow is effectively building a mini-CBD, and the resultant effects on things like traffic flow are severe, and they are going to get worse because I can see about 4 new office buildings in “guts” stages. And it’s not going to stop.

Normally, when a development like this happens, the government is involved, and supply of infrastructure is negotiated and planned. In this case, the airport essentially said “We’re doing this. Come on board if you like, but we’re doing it”. ACT gov’t hadn’t budgeted for this scale of work. And why the hell should they re-direct money (taxpayer’s money) from projects around the territory, to help prop up a cowboy private development?

I drove in a bit later than usual today, and hit the Airport/Majura road area at 8.40am. Holy crap. Gridlock was in full swing, from the cars who come off Majura, and turn right and left at the lights, to the airport or onto Fairbairn to head to Fyshwick or Limestone.

To fix this will cost millions. Snow *could* route a lot of that Majura traffic that is bound for the airport into airport grounds a lot sooner. He could build a road through the paddock (where the outlet stores are) and take a lot of pressure off that whole area. Reckon he’s going to do it? No!

They also created a small problem when they first leased out those office buildings, and were gouging workers for parking (which is nuts, there’s nothing out there, it’s not a town centre). So the workers were driving down into Beltana road, and driving up to Rodney’s on Kallaroo, and parking there. Hundreds of people roaring up and down that little road every day, and clogging up the roadsides. Then they’d walk across Pialligo Avenue to Brindabella Park. The residents complained (it was like a grand prix, and customers later in the day had trouble finding parks) and so it was fixed. But this is an example of the knock-on effects of this rampant, independant development. They make money, ACT gov’t has to try and sweep up after them. It’s a problem that is going to get worse and worse.

If you vote in the local council, you either are a natural Liberal or Labor voter.

Bullshit.

I have to say that Terry Snow has done some great things for Canberra Airport, but on the other hand like so many other private companies that have purchased airports around Australia, he has also driven a lot of the smaller players off the airport by charging higher rent and landing fees.

As for Corbell: better the devil you know?

Simon, if you answer our e-mail questions I’ll buy you a big block of Cadbury Dairy Milk. 🙂

Al,

If you vote in the local council, you either are a natural Liberal or Labor voter. Sorry if I mistook you for a Liberal voter who is getting a free kick into Simon.

In terms of incompetence, do you forget “Call-in Smyth”?

Thumper, I am not a Labor member or work for the Labor Party/Government or am I a lobyist or advisor to them in any way.

What I see is we have had a local council with a small revenue base that has had delusions of grandeur. I get peeved that our footpaths are cracked and the grass is long and I don’t have a bus passing my front door every 5 minutes. But these issues are not unique to Canberra; go to any small town in NSW. However, this Government has finally said enough is enough and has had to raise my rates/taxes/abstraction charges (which I object to please note and I hope Queanbeyan fights them on this issue) by a $1,000 this year. So am I sorry that a school will close and diddums will have to walk another 1km? (Back in my day……) No, even though I have a school not 100 meters from where I live and should be naturally upset with having a school close. As long as they go and upgrade the facilities in the remaining schools and do not sell of the land to developers I am happy. (But of course they will put the bulldozers through after the next election and have 4 years to downplay the matter).

And development is good. All those new apartments are bringing a cuppucino set into Civic/Woden/Belconnen/Dickson. Nothing wrong with that if it gets rid of the “Boring Canberra” tag. But fix the parking issues Simon!

Corbell’s rather cruddy at planning (his idea of planning appears to be “build lots, don’t really put any services or amenities around it, hope it works out”. But the airport ain’t his debacle – it’s the feds.

In the tiny, childish world of ACT politics everyone belongs to a “side” they struggle to understand that real people don’t much like either party because they force us to vote for them.

Sorry – explain to me again how stating the bleeding obvious about the incompetence of the Stanhope Government somehow makes me a Liberal.

Al, gives us some ideas from the Liberal way of thinking.

Planning is vested with the Commonwealth sure. And the Commonwealth does not give a shit about local government, especially a Labor one. Thats the real deal. the Feds never listened to our concerns over the last 6 years or so, but only now are they coming to the party: when getting to the airport started to become a pain in the arse for all but the PM>

Simon is your only choice in this LABOR Government. There is not much talent on the backbenchers that I can see, to replace him. So rather then bag him, so that he wont listen to you, give some constructive ideas and lobby your Liberal mate Gary to do something.

What exactly is the issue at the airport? Planning authority on that land is vested with the Commonwealth. Whinging about what they’re doing there is as pathetic as Queanbeyan whinging about what the ACT government is doing. The simple fact is that it’s just another beat-up by the Stanhope Government.

If Simon Corbell doesn’t have a way to properly manage the interaction between the ACT Government and the Airport it kind of starts looking like he’s out of ideas, like he’s out of his depth. Lead or get out of the way Simon – pick one.

And you would do better Big Al?

Canberra is broke. The Libs want to piss-up $200million on a dam and other projects. I doubt they would have the money or the guts to tackle the issues steming from the airport.

I can tell you none of the Labor cohorts like Snowjob.

In terms of Civic, well development means releasing land to develop things. It is great to see what is happening there. But Simon, dont forget the parking issues. Look at what you propose with the parking DV around Woden; hope it flows on to all the other centres.

Here’s a bit of advice that I won’t charge for Simon – Voters probably want a little less whinging bitch and a bit more constructive policy. If you don’t have a way forward with planning, if you cant figure out an effective response to balancing the complexities of the full range of issues, if you’re not competent enough to bring around you the right talent to get you the advice you need then its time you pissed off and let someone competent have a crack at it.

Lets face it mate – a mediocre political mover and shaker you might be – but you’re B team to the bone. As a rule – when you find yourself in a hole, the best thing to do is to stop digging…

Simon, I saw your interview the other night – ?stateline? and want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on a very good performance.

You were correct in saying that the Airport development was never an ACT planning issue, and that the Fyshwick development adjacent the airport was, and that the entire resultant shitheap has fallen squarely upon local government while the feds are lapping up the kudos for a job well done, and Queanbeyan is shitting themselves at the possibility of an overdeveloped border in comparison to their redundant civic area.

So I ask you this:

In order to provide extra-special out-of-planning cycle plumbing, road services, water gas electricity etc, will you be charging the Airport development a higher fee for the provision of those services which are being provided at the detriment of ordinary Canberrans who would otherwise be consuming those resources ?

Well you are very correct Ant. (Sorry but you cannot kill file here :-)). I was very surprised to see how much development there is at the airport when I attended the runway extension open day: and it will grow 4 fold!

I frankly think that the feds should ‘fess-up and place money into fixing the problem of their doing, by giving Snowjob unfettered powers to do what he wants.

I had the misfortune to drive through the area on my return from the coast on a week day, and bloody hell it is a bottle neck from the airport to Russell.

The ACT gov’t has a real problem, with the airport not subject to the planning laws that THEY administer. But the ACT gov’t has to handle the fall-out, like the traffic debacle around the airport every morning and evening.

Snow could build and internal road to handle the traffic generated by the airport development, but he sits back and demands that the ACT gov’t “do something”. They haven’t budgeted for major roadworks as the airport development (buildings, shops etc) was not part of their planning.

It’s getting a bit ridiculous.

Lay off Simon.

Snowjob is the enemy (except that he is right about the absurdity around housing under the flight corridors).

Just as well the Minister for Planning isn’t also the Minister for Education: “Mr Snows (sic) false allegations” should be written as “Mr Snow’s false allegations”. No wonder the ACT Government is all at sea…

Viagra would take him from Seven-Storey Simon to Nine-Storey Simon.

“Harden up” tablets?

How would Viagra help?

Grow a ticker Simon and answer the questions put to you weeks ago. Both you and your government are quick to launch in to someone when you feel personally offended, but won’t answer cogent and reasonable questions put to you on this forum.

You can’t have it both ways. Either answer the questions put to you here or don’t bother posting. This forum is not your personal soap box to only use when you see fit to address the minions.

Take a big dose of ‘harden up’ tablets and answer what is put here

And our questions Simon?

Or were they too difficult?

Johnboy

I did reply to Mr Snows false allegations, on 666 radio this morning. The ACT Government has an agreed development plan for the City Hill Precinct, which is the result of the Canberra Central Taskforce reccomendations. This development plan, which retains City Hill as a park, is agreed with the National Capital Authority, and will be implemented through an amendment to the National Capital Plan by the NCA.