SOS Adelaide - Patrick Troy addresses AGM

SOS in Adelaide report on some points made by Patrick Troy (Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, ANU) in his address at their April 2007 AGM:


"Developers have inordinate influence"


"We must make the planning process public."


"Granny-flats were built in back-yards in the 1970s. Advocates said this would free up big houses for families. There never were enough grannies to go around. Dual occupancy has had a devastating effect with single houses replaced with six-packs. All the trees are gone and sites are concreted over."


"The replacement of trees and shrubs by concrete is resulting in the greying of Australian suburbs."


"The McMansion phenomenon is tragic. We’ve destroyed our own sporting capacity through the removal of back-yards where kids can play. And there’s not been a murmur about it."


"Developers almost never live in the developments they put up."


"The quite infantile idea that all you need to do is increase the density of the city and that everything will be all right is really quite bizarre."