Whatever Gary Blaschke’s views might be on the Newcastle/Sydney/Wollongong megacity (“Community won’t support mega city plans, CCC 275), in the end they will be of no consequence, because this megacity is going to come into existence by sheer weight of circumstances.
It doesn’t matter, either, what the Premier’s views are, because his intentions will have little influence on the outcome.
People want to live on the Newcastle/Sydney/Wollongong corridor, and all the hand-wringing in the world won’t change that, so what is important is that proper policies and plans are followed in guiding this inevitable development in the best possible way.
We need properly prioritised infrastructure programs and strategies that recognise a desirable balance between population growth and protection of the natural environment, not futile opposition to what we cannot avoid.
Of course, he is correct that the Central Coast Regional Plan and the Central Coast Housing Strategy are worthless documents, as blueprints for the realisation of a 21st-century city.
However, I shall be surprised if anything better is produced, because the whole idea of planning is anathema to the present Government and, to a large extent, to the Opposition parties as well.
How could it be otherwise, when every politician wants to wield the power of arbitrary allocation of resources according to the expediency of the day?
Nevertheless, as long as people simply take irrational opposition, the Government can easily dismiss dissenting views and will be relieved of the onus of providing justified arguments for whatever decisions are made.
Gary Balschke’s idea that the concept of a mega city will be “stamped out” at the ballot box in the next election is wishful thinking.
The topic won’t generate the slightest traction at the next election.
Given the history of Australian elections, it is astonishing that anyone could be naive enough to believe that voters will be so seized by this issue as to alter the outcome of an election.
The population at large is much more influenced by the promise of a car park than by keeping the Government (whichever it is) accountable for its actions at the policy level.
It will be a day-to-day struggle that will never end to protect ourselves against the rapacity of developers and the pusillanimity of politicians, so we must stick to facts and logic, not sentimental denial of reality.
Email, February 12
Bruce Hyland, Woy Woy