Local Councils’ Role in Economic Activity
Whilst the main thrust of Australian economic activity is said to be in the hands of the Federal Government, we should not overlook the significant role that Local Council Government’s can have. As the Federal Government wrestles with falling taxation revenues and an apparent inability to get the message across about distributing the income of the mining boom, and State Governments balk at infrastructure requirements and spending on social service requirements, it can seem that Local Governments have minimal to offer. But I beg to differ
There’s much that Local Governments can do in one particular area, and that is not in the sphere of increasing ticket inspectors to extract more parking fine revenue. The part to play hinges on speed of housing approvals. Simply put it is hard to justify six weeks of delays or anecdotally as happens in many parts of New South Wales, delays of as much as nine months for straight forward building permits.
These delays increase the risks of ‘non starting’ or deferred projects and that is bad news and just not smart regulation. I’d like to see a much more rapid approval (or disapproval) process. But delays in processing an application is unacceptable and frankly, unjustifiable. Approve or reject, but do it quickly. If Councils want to ensure their part in the economic process through building approval, the minor change might simply be the sunset clause with regard to start and finish dates. By asking building works to be commenced sooner, and finished more quickly (or the developer risking non issuance of a permit for residency), Local Governments can play a key role in economic activity.
I’ll be talking with Vicki Kerrigan again this afternoon, this time discussing robotics as in-home carers. I’m due on at about 4.45pm Darwin time which is around 5.15pm on the eastern seaboard. You can listen to the audio stream via the link below http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/programs/webcam_radio.htm?ref=listenlive If all things go well, I’ll record the session and…
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Read More >Below you’ll find this afternoon’s discussion with ABC Darwin radio in which host Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist Marcus Barber about the emerging research into lab grown meat as a potential addition to or replacement of, existing livestock farming methods. The program streamed live on 105.7 ABC Darwin this afternoon, discussing the University of…
Read More >Continuing the futures discussions on ABC Darwin Radio, this time with Paul Dale who is filling in for Vicki Kerrigan whilst Vicki is handling the breakfast time slot, we discuss some of the conference sessions at the World Futures Conference here in Vancouver You can listen to the audio stream here and cue this…
Read More >My slides from today’s presentation on ‘Getting You Future Right’ can be found at the link below To those at the session, my apologies for the technical challenges and hope these slides can provide more context for you – contact me if you have any questions. Access the Slides Here
Read More >Here’s the upload of my conversation with Vicki Kerrigan at ABC Radio Darwin. In it I offer the first three of ten steps designed to help you get your future right. In last week’s session I left Vicki with a question to ponder: Is my life headed where I want it to go, and if…
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