Residential or Resort?

Gary Bennett wrote a couple of good letters recently, he was asking why the shire councillors would over-rule the professional planning staff we employ to give expert advice. Good question Gary.

Can anyone understand why we need more residential houses when we have no strategies for economic development?

A resort would create employment, and the type of visitor we might attract would visit tourist locations and shops. But it wouldn’t deliver the huge profits that the land developers want. This is one of the problems of local representation by councillors who are elected by, and represent, corporate land owners.

How much lobbying of councillors is done by the average resident?

How influenced by money and power are our councillors?

I can only speak for the Leeuwin Ward and both of our councillors appear to be very keen to play with the big boys and not very interested in micro business initiatives that could provide employment and sustainable outcomes for our resident community.

Gary’s good letters echo the comments of many Karridale residents who suggested that a resort located between the xroads and Hamelin Bay might be a better idea than a cluster of houses. But there is no profit in a resort for the corporations who have bought here.

One of the LW councillors perceives the Council as “owing” the land developers a duty of care, to ensure that they can realise the profits they expected, on the land they speculatively bought less than 10 years ago. He truly feels embarrassed about the resident Karridale community, ashamed of a community that refuses to be duped and lied to. He frets that the corporations have had to wait so long because the plans have experienced resistance and criticism from the inconsequential residents.

Ask why?

Why does he feel that way?

He knows that any short term benefit from a few construction jobs and a small increase in rate revenue will be more than negated by the rate increases required to maintain the roads, footpaths and street lighting the estates will have. Plus there will be a huge cost to provide the Fire and Rescue Brigade necessary, as Karridale currently has no capacity to fight house fires, only bush fires. This may sound odd to some readers but house fires are a very different type of deal; requiring expertise with ladders and an understanding of all matter of complicated chemical reactions, gasses, and fumes etc, etc.

He also knows that the new estates will increase the bushfire risks for Karridale, especially as the planning officers have requested that notwithstanding the acknowledged increase in fire risk they want extra native vegetation to be planted to screen the estate from the Bussell Highway.

So why do our councillors want these houses?

Why do they care how much profit the corporations will make?