This post is from a correspondent to this blog:
Ministers responsible (in the new O'Farrell Coalition NSW Gov) for the difficult to solve land use & transport interaction problem in Sydney appear to realize that the 'culture of arrogance' (which can lead to deceit & manipulation), under which the NSW RTA has operated for far too long must end. Expensive major roads and so-called 'upgrades' presented as transport solutions are doomed to failure due to traffic induction which feeds into & causes congestion in supporting road networks.
Real solutions are only available from integrated public transport which is service oriented & for commuters is cost effective, easily accessed & safe. The North West Rail Link (NWRL) is an urgently needed solution as long overdue public transport infrastructure. Having previously represented the M2 impacted area of North West Sydney (as member for the former NSW seat of Northcott) Barry O'Farrell has the background knowledge to understand the urgent need for critical rail & supporting feeder bus infrastructure in NW Sydney.
Fortunately, his overwhelming victory in the recent 26 Mar NSW Elections has given the mandate to begin fixing the problems created by previous governments pursuing NO SOLUTION public policy outcomes often manipulated through the political decision making process as NSW RTA 'wish list' initiatives... The issue of political facilitators previously assisting road building vested interests needs to be addressed by a Royal commission with coercive powers.
The issue of OPTIMUM size for a large city like Sydney also needs proper inquiry under arrangements with full transparency.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Home Insulation Test Results
One in four homes inspected after the Federal Government's botched home insulation scheme had varying levels of safety risk and did not meet national building safety standards.
To quote Alison Rehn of the Daily Telegraph, "the disastrous $2.45 billion pink batts program" was axed 12 months ago following the deaths of four installers, many reported injuries, 205 house fires, and scores of complaints about shonky installations and dodgy operators.
Some 58,000 houses had foil insulation fitted. Because of the higher perceived hazard risk with this material, the Government committed to inspect every foil-fitted house, and of the 44,000 inspected so far nearly a third have had the insulation removed, and half of the rest needed safety switches installed.
About 1,100,000 homes had non-foil products installed, perceived to be less of a hazard. However of the 141,000 homes fitted with non-foil insulation products that were targeted for safety inspections, 34,000 (24%) did not comply with standards. The paper doesn't explain why the Government proposed only to inspect little more than ten percent of the houses with non-foil insulation. Perhaps now that the results are in, showing that 24% of those inspected are defective, they will reconsider, and should consider testing all the remaining 83,000 homes!
A number of legal claims are in the offing. One also wonders if anything is being done to compensate the poor honest businesses who stocked up on insulation material only to have the demand slashed by the cancellation of the program.
Alison's word, "disastrous", is certainly appropriate.
To quote Alison Rehn of the Daily Telegraph, "the disastrous $2.45 billion pink batts program" was axed 12 months ago following the deaths of four installers, many reported injuries, 205 house fires, and scores of complaints about shonky installations and dodgy operators.
Some 58,000 houses had foil insulation fitted. Because of the higher perceived hazard risk with this material, the Government committed to inspect every foil-fitted house, and of the 44,000 inspected so far nearly a third have had the insulation removed, and half of the rest needed safety switches installed.
About 1,100,000 homes had non-foil products installed, perceived to be less of a hazard. However of the 141,000 homes fitted with non-foil insulation products that were targeted for safety inspections, 34,000 (24%) did not comply with standards. The paper doesn't explain why the Government proposed only to inspect little more than ten percent of the houses with non-foil insulation. Perhaps now that the results are in, showing that 24% of those inspected are defective, they will reconsider, and should consider testing all the remaining 83,000 homes!
A number of legal claims are in the offing. One also wonders if anything is being done to compensate the poor honest businesses who stocked up on insulation material only to have the demand slashed by the cancellation of the program.
Alison's word, "disastrous", is certainly appropriate.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Incentives Hurt Housing Market
A stimulating article on the back page of the Australian on Monday 11 April by David Uren starts by saying "Demand for homes is falling and the supply is rising." Interesting items in the article include: "First home buyer grants, variable rate mortgages and capital gains tax concessions all served to destabilise housing markets." "The Australian housing market is in a worse state than is widely understood. Demand is falling, supply is rising, and the monthly turnover is drifting lower." "There were a record 260,000 properties advertised for sale in the four weeks to 3 April, 24.1% more than a year ago when the market was booming." Monthly sales peaked in May 2010 at 37,500, and by December 2010 were down to 27,500. That translates to over nine months supply of houses on the market. Later David argues: "Australia's property investors are driven by capital gain, not by rental yield. With the increasing weakness in the capital gain outlook, investors are deserting the market." The point about variable rate mortgages is interesting. "People are encouraged to enter the market during periods of low interest rates without fully appreciating the interest rate risk they are taking on."
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