The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Untitled design (8)
25 DAYS UNTIL OUR UNMISSABLE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 29-31 JULY, GOLD COAST
25 DAYS UNTIL OUR FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 29-31 JULY, GOLD COAST
SECURE YOUR SPOTDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
print
Print
OtherStaff WriterTue 28 Feb 17

Let’s Build A Wall Around Suburbia And Make Unit Owners Pay

iStock-538185070_620x380

Written by Chris Isles, Place Design Group

Let’s build a wall around suburbia and make the unit owners pay for it – Is a Trump-style wall just around the corner?

So Donald is going to build a fence. And he’s going to make Mexico pay for it to be built (somehow, eventually, he promises).

Like it or not (and I certainly don’t agree with it) ‘The Donald’ is a man on a mission. In his mind he is calling out what on face value seem to be many things that have been happening in America or at the hands of Americans for a long time that on first pass don’t seem to make sense. Judging by the fact that he was elected having overtly declared his intentions prior to being elected, clearly to many in the US they are not crazy ideas. In fact, to them they are completely sane, logical and long overdue.

What is missing from these Trump-isms is an active debate and discussion about the issues, rather than just shooting first and then aiming second. At least that is my humble opinion.

Now anyone that has followed my previous pieces would know I am not one to take political positions nor to get into debates of idealism. And so, perhaps I have broken my own rules, and you may rightly then ask, why even get into the Trump debate. So what’s the point? What has this got to do with housing and my home state of Queensland. And why might someone want to build a wall around suburbia and make the unit owners pay for it?Well to me, the Queensland greenfield / infill debate has the potential to escalate out of control, as has happened in the US. It has many hallmarks of the lunacy going on in the US about it.

Whilst the US has people waving placards supporting Trump on all kinds of topics, from gun control to his Immigration Ban and the ‘Tweeter-in-Chief’ tweeting about stopping ‘Bad Dudes’ coming into the country, we have people parading around with “Stop Development” and “No Houses” / “City Planning, Not City Cramming” placards.

Now I understand and even sympathise with the underlying protectionism and self-defence responses of both groups whether defending their country or defending their suburb from a so-called radical invasion to the ‘density invasion’.

The problem I see with these self-defence responses and protests, is that they often lack any attempt to understand or sympathise with the other side of the issue. After all Australia has the fastest growing population of any major developed country, so population pressures, where and how we are going to fit everyone in, and doing so in a financially affordable manner, are not going to go away. So we can’t really put our hands up and say, sorry we are full, ‘no room in the inn’, you are welcome to come here, but there is only room at the edges of our city for you.

If you follow this local debate and apply a Trump solution to it, it is clear that the only way Brisbane and South East Queensland can move forward is for us to erect a wall around the units, townhouse and project home (and getting them to pay for it) to stop that riff raff that apparently lives in these ‘rental havens’ from mixing with the rest of us in the apparently exclusive and perfect detached housing suburbs.

The justification for this fence is easy, isn’t it? After all the facts are apparently irrefutable:

  •  The extra people bring their cars and clog our streets

  • The ‘kind’ of people who live in apartments are renters and party all day and night and we wouldn’t want those kind of people in suburbia

  • The developers are forcing old people from their homes of 50 years

  • The extra people will use our parks and schools and they are already over crowded.

Chris is a Director and the National Planning Leader of Place Design Group, with over 15 years’ experience in the planning and development industry. 

With understanding of project feasibility, construction, and market conditions from years in the industry, Chris regularly leads major consultant and development teams through the planning approval process.

ResidentialRetailIndustrialAustraliaConstructionFinanceReal EstateArchitecturePlanningPlanningSector
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
"TheUrbanDeveloper.com is committed to delivering the latest news, reviews, opinions and insights into the best of urban development from Australia and around the world. "
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Molti chief Ben Teague out front of 32 Mercer Road Aramadale (rendering)
Exclusive

Buy to the Sound of Cannons: Molti’s Counter-Cyclical Move to Melbourne

Leon Della Bosca
5 Min
Exclusive

Tapping the Bunnings ‘Halo Effect’

Taryn Paris
5 Min
Exclusive

‘Construction Not a Scale Game’: Hutchinson

Phil Bartsch
9 Min
Nation's build-to-rent project Charlie Parker in Sydney's Parramatta where more projects are being located and built outside the CBD.
Exclusive

Foreign Capital Still Dominates BtR but Things are Changing

Marisa Wikramanayake
7 Min
Exclusive

Fortis Reveals Plans for Coveted Bowen Terrace Site

Taryn Paris
4 Min
View All >
The construction site which will one day become Newcastle Tallest Tower by Urban Property Group
Residential

Urban Property Group Reveals Newcastle Tallest Tower Plan

Renee McKeown
Singapore’s Furama Hotels reportedly picked up the Skye Suites for $68 million amidst an Australian acquisition spree.
Hotel

Sale of Sydney’s Sky Suites Year’s Biggest Hotel Deal

Renee McKeown
RCQ plan to convert 126-140 Bulcock Street, Caloundra into a 13-storey complex with ground floor retail according to the plans submitted to Sunshine Coast Council.
Residential

RCQ Files Triple-Tower Scheme for Caloundra Main Strip

Renee McKeown
Developer RCQ wants to convert eight commercial sites into 155 apartments overlooking the water…
LATEST
The construction site which will one day become Newcastle Tallest Tower by Urban Property Group
Residential

Urban Property Group Reveals Newcastle Tallest Tower Plan

Renee McKeown
3 Min
Singapore’s Furama Hotels reportedly picked up the Skye Suites for $68 million amidst an Australian acquisition spree.
Hotel

Sale of Sydney’s Sky Suites Year’s Biggest Hotel Deal

Renee McKeown
3 Min
RCQ plan to convert 126-140 Bulcock Street, Caloundra into a 13-storey complex with ground floor retail according to the plans submitted to Sunshine Coast Council.
Residential

RCQ Files Triple-Tower Scheme for Caloundra Main Strip

Renee McKeown
2 Min
Bunnings Clyde North
Markets

Bunnings Sold On as Charter Hall Doubles Down on Retail

Leon Della Bosca
2 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/lets-build-a-wall-around-suburbia-and-make-unit-owners-pay