Gary's Guidance

The Karridale community have been denied any explanation as to why the plan they favoured for development of their location was rejected without official comment from the professional planning team at the Shire of Augusta Margaret River. Gary and his team have given us no insight into what guided their decision making processes.

Economic Sustainability?

I still haven’t been sent any clear definitions of sustainable development and so I’ll just plod on with considering it to be some form of development that allows a community to thrive and flourish in a way that supports a shared perception that there is a worthwhile future.

Sustainable Society?

Sustainable Society?

What does this mean? We often hear sustainable this, or sustainable that, but does anyone explain to the community what having their social, economic and environmental development planned in ways that are sustainable will mean in ways we can understand? The answer is a very definite NO!

The Wonder of Woolies

The wonder of woollies that causes many residents distress can possibly be explained by the apparent injustice of the process preceding the decision. The speed with which all community aspirations were swept aside in order to deliver a new shire office building was bound to be recognised by the residents as a demonstration of inequity in both planning and complete lack of self-determination for the residents. 

Withering words?

“Demonizing”, “shire bashing” these are all emotive words that can be used to describe a person with a different point of view. Withering words intended to cut the opposition down to size.

The Prevelly Development Trust

Apart from being another piece of inappropriate development in a high bushfire risk area is there a common factor in the development of Prevelly and the development of Karridale?

Why did they buy Kalkarri Rise?

In response to the post "Community Engagement" James asked the question, "didn't the residents of Kalkarri Rise know there was a state forest adjacent?"

Community Engagement?

It's so easy for a detached and ill informed person to argue that the community have been given every opportunity to engage with the shire in the decision making process. Such a view breeds the opinion that it is merely the lack of interest from the community that makes it impossible for the Councillors and professional planners to enagage adequately with those they claim to represent or work for - right?

Shire bashing?

What is shire bashing?

Trying to get an answer to questions you feel it necessary to ask?

Complaining about something that you believe to be wrong?

Cognitive dissonance?

Dissonance is aroused when people are confronted with information that is inconsistent with their beliefs, with their view of reality. In Rory Sutherland’s TED we see a classic piece of marketing that demonstrates how easily we can be convinced that the diamond is a square. Or are you much smarter than those in the focus group? Even if you are smart you might learn a few things from Rory.

Argyle and Bute have a lesson for AMRSC

When Argyle and Bute Council tried to suppress criticism they were receiving from a 9 year old girl, Martha Payne, they learnt very quickly that it just wasn’t going to work. In this TED Clay gives us a few pointers as to why new media might assist the spread of democracy.

Clay Shirky

Missing clause?

Are we all comfortable that after our shire have invited us all to comment on a plan or proposal they can change the supporting documents? Alter the records after we have commented. Do any of us spot a flaw with such a dynamic system? It does leave a gaping hole in our controls, an opportunity for a mischievous weasel to get to work perhaps?

Karridale priest missing!

The shire have expunged from the records all trace of our Karridale priest ever attending a workshop at the Karridale Hall. There is no longer a shred of evidence that he was there to witness the strange mob the planners rustled up to represent the Karridale community.

Not a shred of evidence?

We all read the CEO’s explanation in the local press last week, about how someone has lost their job because they were critical of the CEO and possibly suggested all was not as it should be in Wallcliffe House. 

Apathetic ?

It has been suggested that as a community we are apathetic  in Augusta Margaret River Shire? I disagree. I diagnose our condition not as apathy, but merely a bad case of 'learned helplessness' which can keep people living in circumstances that are unsatisfactory even when they do have the power and resources to make changes. 

Are We Idiots?

Those of you following this blog will have read about the wisdom of the psychopath but George Papandreou touches on the wisdom of the crowd and urges us to not be idiots. He is a man who is willing to share his experience, what he has learnt from failure, and in 20 minutes he could provoke some deep thinking about democracy.

Can we have "Sure and Certain"?

A resident listening to a developer telling the community of the benefits that might come when the development was approved protested, “We don’t want possibly, we want sure and certain.”

Can we ever have sure and certain? Not in this life, except for death and taxes. But we can certainly reduce our exposure to risk by making sure that we have good research behind any decision making. If our shire is reluctant to reference the research, ask why?

Group Think and Risky Shift

Whenever we have a decision making situation we need to beware of the influence of group think, and risky shift, also known as group polarisation, because these can result in seriously flawed outcomes. The web can provide adequate overviews of group think, and risky shift and group polarization for anyone curious about the meaning of these terms. Once we understand and recognise that such psychological effects occur we need to do some deep thinking about examples in our own shire, and how might we develop strategies to improve.

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?

The Locust and the Bee

“If you want to make money, you can choose between two fundamentally different strategies. One is to create genuinely new value by bringing resources together in ways that serve people’s wants and needs. The other is to seize value through predation, taking resources, money, or time from others, whether they like it or not. Your choice, in short, is whether to be a bee or a locust.”