20/30 Authority, Apartments, Manningham Council, Traffic Congestion, Traffic Gridlock, Transport 12 comments

CRUNCH TIME FOR COUNCIL TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT

By on June 2nd, 2019

HIGH RISE  TRAFFIC BEING DIRECTED THROUGH RESIDENTIAL STREETS

Councillors have resolved that the Manningham Infrastructure Services Unit immediately undertake: 1. A new vehicle movement and parking study; and 2. An open space and community amenity study in the area of Doncaster Hill south of Doncaster Road and east of Tram Road. This was after the unit had concluded that the street network would not create any adverse traffic, safety or capacity problems.

Street network precinct 2  Click to enlarge

Distance and direction websites are now recommending Elgar Road via sides streets such as Frank, Hanke, Boyd and  Eildon Streets for city outward bound vehicles accessing Doncaster Hill instead of via the more direct route on Doncaster Road because many of  the high rise apartment buildings have no access/exit facility from Doncaster Road, an arterial road without service lanes. Several independent parking and traffic studies on Doncaster Hill had indicated that with the number high rise developments being completed there would be corresponding capacity constraints in the road network with limited opportunities available to accommodate the projected growth in traffic volumes. Congested traffic conditions similar to inner Melbourne were  expected.

Increased traffic was expected to increase travel times at slower vehicle speeds in and around Doncaster Hill. There will Continue reading CRUNCH TIME FOR COUNCIL TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT →

Apartments, Cladding, High Density developments, Investors, Lending Authorities, Negative Gearing 6 comments

LENDERS & INVESTORS SHY AWAY FROM HIGH RISE

By on May 12th, 2019

NO CAPITAL GAIN FOR MAJORITY OF APARTMENT PURCHASERS

According to market analysts two out of every three high rise apartments purchased off the plan during the last few years have achieved no financial gain. When existing owners of apartments fall into negative equity, property developers become a liability for lenders. When a real estate bubble bursts, everybody loses, unemployment skyrockets, businesses fail and recession invades. Off-plan purchasers could be out of pocket by as much as twenty percent when their deadline for settlement becomes due and payable.

SQM Research.  April Asking Prices 2019   Apts in Yellow & Red 2 Bed. Established homes in Blue. Click to enlarge

Lender’s revaluation Continue reading LENDERS & INVESTORS SHY AWAY FROM HIGH RISE →

Coral, Funding Research, Global Warming, Goupthink 6 comments

BARRIER REEF WAS POSTER CHILD FOR ALARMISTS

By on April 30th, 2019

“THE REEF LARGELY REGROWS  WITHIN A DECADE TO ITS FORMER GLORY”

Peter Ridd, Professor of Physics, has just won a landmark victory against the James Cook University who had fired him for questioning that the Great Barrier Reef was being destroyed by climate change. “I have published numerous scientific papers showing that much of the “science” claiming damage to the reef is either plain wrong or greatly exaggerated. As just one example, coral growth rates that have supposedly collapsed along the reef have, if anything, increased slightly”.The Great Barrier Reef is in fact in excellent condition. It certainly goes through periods of destruction where huge areas of coral are killed from hurricanes, starfish plagues and coral bleaching”. he said. 

Damaged By Hurricanes, Starfish Plagues And Bleaching…… Not Climate Change

“We can no longer trust the scientific organisations like the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Continue reading BARRIER REEF WAS POSTER CHILD FOR ALARMISTS →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, Coal Power, El Nino, Global Cooling, Global Warming, IPCC 30 comments

HIGHEST WARMING RATE IN TWENTIETH CENTURY

By on April 12th, 2019

According to NOAA the rate of global warming from 1880 to 2018 was only 0.70 degrees Celsius per century and would have been less had they not increased all the recorded temperatures from 2001 to 2013. Even with the changes to their temperature data, it was nowhere near the 1.36 degrees Celsius per century rate of warming in the period between 1910-1945, almost twice the overall warming rate.

The anomalies, above/below 13.90 C, the average twentieth century global temperature over land and ocean, in NOAA Climate Reports from 2001 to 2013 were increased from an average of 55.4 C to 61.7 C. In the same period, from 2001 to 2013, the UK Met Office had recorded an average anomaly of 48.61 C.

1910-1945 1.36 C/100 yrs  Click to enlarge

1880- 2018  0.7 C/100 yrs  Click to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 

Anomalies appear to have been changed towards the end of the decade, some by as much as 0.08 C, when their list of hottest years summaries were published in the lead up to the Paris Conference in 2015. You have to question why there were no alterations to their data sets in past years if their methodology was flawed and not just those that had indicated there was no significant warming trend for 17-18 years.

Meanwhile, Continue reading HIGHEST WARMING RATE IN TWENTIETH CENTURY →

Apartments, Arson, Bureaucrats, Fire Safety, State Government, State Planning, Valuations, VCAT 5 comments

ARSON FEAR IF HIGH RISK CLADDING MADE PUBLIC

By on April 1st, 2019

Apartment towers fitted with high-risk cladding could become a target for arsonists or terrorists if their locations across Melbourne are revealed, the city’s fire service warns. This warning comes as authorities complete testing to confirm the make-up of cladding on Spencer Street’s NEO 200 tower, rated a low risk, caught fire earlier this year causing residents to vacate the building for a fortnight.

Lacrosse Fire Docklands       Click to enlarge

Apartment occupants deserve to know if they are living with a fire risk around them. If the State knows of buildings with flammable cladding material in them, its silence only creates a climate of fear among all high rise occupants. Another reason to withhold  information on buildings swathed in illegal cladding is the effect it would have on valuations and the current owner’s resale prospect.

The government wants apartment owners to foot the bill using the Cladding Rectification Scheme, which was announced in the lead-up to last year’s state election, which offer owners low-interest loans to remove the cladding. Owners could then repay the loans through their municipal rates over a minimum of 10 years.

Why do apartment owners have to pay for something they had nothing to do with?

The answer to this Continue reading ARSON FEAR IF HIGH RISK CLADDING MADE PUBLIC →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, El Nino, Global Cooling, Global Warming, IPCC 13 comments

NOAA RAISED ANNUAL TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES

By on March 11th, 2019

Fifteen Hottest Years Prior To 2015 Were All Increased By An Average Of 0.05 C.

“The ranks and temperature anomalies in the annual reports represent the values known at the time when each report was issued. The actual ranks will change as subsequent years are added to the dataset. The anomalies themselves may change slightly as missing or erroneous data is resolved”.

Anomalies Increased        Click to enlarge

The chart on the left shows the amended anomalies, (the amount of warming above 13.9o Celsius, the 20th century average annual global temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces, for each of the fifteen hottest years prior to the Paris Conference in 2015.

The original anomalies for each individual year can be obtained by going to NOAA climate report and submitting the year.

Unfortunately the NOAA global temperature reports appear to be only available from 1997 onward and the previous yearly reports appear to have dealt with global weather events only.

The raised temperatures from an otherwise flat period have been made to look more in proportion to the increased anomalies of world temperatures in 2015 and 2016.

For example, 20014 Continue reading NOAA RAISED ANNUAL TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES →

Climate Change, El Nino, Global Cooling, Global Warming 7 comments

GLOBAL WARMING ONLY DURING EL NINO PERIODS

By on February 25th, 2019

THE WARMTH OR COLDNESS OF INDIVIDUAL YEARS IS INFLUENCED BY WHETHER THERE WAS AN EL NINO OR LA NINA EVENT OCCURRING IN THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN. 

2001 14.34 C                                     2008 14.29 C                     2017 14.58 C          2018 14.50 C

The above graph was compiled jointly by the Climatic Research Unit and the UK Met Office Hadley Centre. The Met Office climate data recorded an average global temperature of 14.44 C between 2001 and 2018. The last major El Nino event occurred between 2014-2016 when world temperatures reached 14.66 C and 14.70 C respectively then dropped sharply to 14.58 C in 2017 and 14.5o C in 2018.                  Below are the comparisons with NOAA which show much higher readings than the above.

2001 14.42 C                                    2008 14.39 C                        2017 14.74 C       2018 14.69 C

In the same period, Continue reading GLOBAL WARMING ONLY DURING EL NINO PERIODS →

Manningham Council, Mechanical Parking, Owners Corporation, Townhouse Development 6 comments

RESIDENTS RALLY AGAINST CAR STACKER PARKING

By on February 15th, 2019

MECHANICAL PARKING PROPOSED TO ENABLE MORE UNITS

A developer of a town house development at 15 Glendale Avenue, Templestowe wants to install car stacker parking in 8 single garages so that the space saved can be put towards extra units on the land. Stacker parking in new developments is only acceptable where normal parking cannot be achieved and is not environmentally friendly since they draw a lot of electricity at a time when Melbourne is already experiencing blackouts. This is in direct conflict with Manningham’s own 2020 climate action plan.

Typical Two Car Stacker  Click to enlarge

The land is of a sufficient size to satisfactorily accommodate double garages. There is no demonstrated reason why parking cannot be met in a normal parking arrangement.  Mechanical parking installations such as car lifts, turntables and car stackers are usually permitted for residential and non residential development where: The topography or lot size does not allow a simpler parking arrangement, an existing building is being refurbished and there is no land available for additional parking OR refurbishment does not include extension of the building so as to increase site coverage or any other works to increase site coverage, all of which have the effect of reducing site area which could be used for conventional parking arrangements.

In the case of Continue reading RESIDENTS RALLY AGAINST CAR STACKER PARKING →

Bureaucrats, Manningham Council, Panels Victoria, State Planning 17 comments

HIGH DENSITY PLANNED IN MANNINGHAM STREETS

By on January 28th, 2019

HIGHER BUILDINGS IN COURTS AND SIDE STREETS

New regulations will now require council to address the uncertainty and confusion created by its stubborn refusal to prescribe the number of storeys to be achieved within its mandatory height limits.

Residential Density           Click to Enlarge

This is welcome news for community groups, whose previous requests for similar reform had been ignored by Council, but there is a catch, if the new Reformed Residential Zones are applied as proposed it could mean higher density buildings in Areas Surrounding Activity Centres and Along Main Roads (Side Streets  and Courts) formerly sub-Precincts A and B. This area is now referred to as the General Residential Zone, where three storey buildings, possibly apartments, will have a height limit of at least 11 metres and could now be built on reduced minimum land areas. Continue reading HIGH DENSITY PLANNED IN MANNINGHAM STREETS →

Aboriginal Community, Federal Government, Nuclear Power, Public Safety 9 comments

WORLD NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP SITE IN AUSTRALIA

By on January 2nd, 2019

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK FINAL DESTINATION FOR NUCLEAR WASTE

Viability analysis undertaken has determined that a waste disposal facility could generate more than $100 billion income in excess of expenditure (including a $32 billion reserve fund for facility closure and ongoing monitoring) over the 120-year life of the project (or $51 billion discounted at 4 per cent).

Safe Waste Disposal       Click to Enlarge

Given the significance of the potential revenue and the extended project time frames, a Commission has found that were such a project to proceed, it must be owned and controlled by the state government, and that the wealth generated should be preserved and equitably shared for current and future generations of South Australians. This presents an opportunity that should be pursued.
Social consent is fundamental to undertaking any new nuclear project. Social consent requires sufficient public support in South Australia to proceed with legislating, planning and implementing a project.

Local community consent is required to host a facility. In the event that this involves regional, remote and Aboriginal communities, consent processes must account for their particular values and concerns.
Political bipartisanship Continue reading WORLD NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP SITE IN AUSTRALIA →