You and I Will never, ever agree on this. I think I’ve said before that I’ve been financially in a position to make more of the housing market but it’s a red line for me. I’ll never, under any circumstances, use the housing or development market to build wealth. We are probably likely at polar ends of the political/idealogical spectrum.
It may not be ‘small’ development, but here in Noosa we have state government trying to bypass the council town plan, trying to allow a developer to build 140 units in a 60m x 100m area of Noosa Junction. Council wasn’t privy to plans of development height for the proposal until the very last moment, because of course it wasn’t even close to meeting the rules of the town plan. Somehow this meets the state’s definition of affordable housing. Yep, units in Noosa. Fucking. Junction. Which is obscene. As long as developers are making a buck, anything goes in terms of the definition of affordable housing. Noosa has areas that could be developed. But developers don’t see that as primed for profitability.
Noosa has a 65 year history of fighting high rise. It unfortunately has a history of state government running roughshod and forcing through shitty developments. Like the Daintree estate. Development in early 00’s on a floodplain. Council fought it in court for obvious reasons and lost. Retrospectively needed a 2 metre wall built around it to protect it from storm events.
From what I’ve ever seen, developers don’t care about whether an idea is good. They sure as shit
aren’t developing because they are concerned about the social problems caused by lack of housing stock, no matter how much they try to convince themselves and others ( fuck I’ve heard that enough from friends) They are happy there is a housing crisis as it’s good for business.
I voted early in the state elections. Popped in yesterday. Voted independent who is against the development, then greens, LNP then labour. It’s probably the only time I’ve voted Libs above Labour, and even though Libs are for the high rise, I want my vote to punish Labour in this instance. I would have voted Labour (and LNP) lower if One Nation and Family First - which I assume is a cult - didn’t exist.