05 January 2014

Not in Our Back Yards

http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/adelaide-innercity-growth-stifled-by-nimbys-report/story-fni6uo1m-1226794577026

The above link leads to the article in yesterdays 'The Advertiser'. While I'm sure many of the observations are true it seems to me that the obvious has been overlooked. There are less new dwellings being built in Unley simply because there is less opportunity for green-fields development and fewer homes that people would wish to bulldoze and rebuild on the same site. Most people choose to live in the house they buy as they like the style of house available in the area, they may wish to improve the existing house but not to get rid of it. It is also true that the buy in price of potential development sites in Unley  has increased to a point beyond which developers can  sell at an affordable price and still make a profit. This is not about money or affluence; very few development applications  put to Council are not approved and those refused are often appealed (and won) in the ERD Court.
Additional to this the recent development plans approved by the Minister have allowed the development of multi-storey buildings (apartments) on both Unley and Grennhill Rds: when applications are lodged and approved to build on these sites the new home numbers should increase dramatically.
The article also states that amalgamation of Councils would in some way stop this from happening; I can't see the connection. The state government continues to erode Council's planning powers and more than likely will continue to do so with or without amalgamations. If Unley were to be forced to amalgamate with another Council it would most probably be Burnside, a Council area seen to be even wealthier than Unley.

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