A few of my thoughts on the new WSI airport and Bankstown metro extensions opening this week
4
2
38
2,562
That was a rapid response to public opposition. I wonder how much an election being months away played into it. A shame, there were good elements to the proposed changes, albeit with the known trade-offs. smh.com.au/politics/nsw/p…
5
0
28
974
Thankfully, they no longer seem to hold these opinions. Just about everyone loves the metro now.
0
0
3
134
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Dites-vous que les automobilistes qui n'arrivent pas à estimer le gabarit de leur voiture en franchissant ces barrières, sont les mêmes qui nous disent parfaitement maîtriser leur gabarit quand il s'agit de frôler les cyclistes en les doublant à qqes centimètres
#ViolenceRoutière
#ViolenceRoutière
🐫 Forget speed bumps.
📸 Forget speed camera's.
🚫 Forget road signs.
Car drivers fear nothing more than a scratch on their paint. And overestimate the size or their car (amongst other things).
Crucial knowledge if you want to lower speeds.
(🎞️ by David Ho)
6
34
411
26,037
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Nice graphic of the patronage at each Sydney Train and Metro station from Reddit. It helps with the rationale behind the timetable changes IMO, massive boost in service for Mascot for example which has a higher pax than multiple Macarthur region stations combined.
16
21
245
24,278
Allegra Spender makes the case for NSW replacing stamp duty with land tax. The combination of politics and economics here is tricky, will require threading through a narrow needle. Significant short term cost, but the long term payoff is potentially huge.
NSW Labor inherited a modest plan on that transition that they could have built on. Instead they dropped it for short-term political gain.
0
0
0
107
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
What’s the evidence on rent control?
I charted the findings from 112 studies:
Great for rent-controlled tenants ✅
But:
Pushes up rents for other people ❌
Pushes down new housing construction ❌
Pushes down building quality ❌
I charted the findings from 112 studies:
Great for rent-controlled tenants ✅
But:
Pushes up rents for other people ❌
Pushes down new housing construction ❌
Pushes down building quality ❌
79
732
2,954
259,716
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Woollahra deputy mayor says the 3600 homes proposed by his council colleagues don’t go far enough.
Wants to see how they can achieve the 10,000 homes the state govt has put forward, and that they need a big number to be taken seriously in negotiations.
Wants to see how they can achieve the 10,000 homes the state govt has put forward, and that they need a big number to be taken seriously in negotiations.
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth.
Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”
— Chernobyl.
So here is the truth.
Last year, I branded Labor’s Woollahra state-led scheme for up to 10,000 units and a station a “random and peculiar act of toxic masculinity”.
At the of machismo following Rosehill’s failure—it most certainly was. It can no longer be described that way.
The Sydney Plan now gives that original intervention the policy coherence it previously lacked.
It is therefore an unpalatable yet perfectly coherent element of the @NSWLabor Government’s broader plan for Sydney’s growth over the longer term.
NSW will soon present its detailed plans for the Woollahra state-led scheme. Woollahra will have an opportunity to respond through the proper process.
I fear it is now Woollahra—not the State—that is refusing to sit down and negotiate seriously.
As a Woollahra resident, I do not wish for this gorgeous suburb to be destroyed. My partner and I moved here for good reason.
Yet Labor is presently in power. And they are willing to fund a new railway station to support that growth.
And we are in a housing crisis.
Given all that, I can only begrudgingly agree with Planning Minister Paul Scully: Council’s alternative of up to 3,600 additional dwellings is not a serious proposal when the State is planning for up to 10,000.
Do not be fooled: accommodating 10,000 homes here is, technically speaking, possible. My colleagues must be more self-aware and guide the State to a more sensible, useful solution.
Allowing the State—which has every right to proceed—to do so without useful, pragmatic guidance from local representatives would be a disaster of historic proportions. It would become an example in future planning textbooks of what not to do.
Up to 3,600 units is not remotely the best we can do. That number is not merely an inadequate answer to the State; it is an insult to every Sydneysider facing mortgage or rental stress—and to every younger Sydneysider who hopes one day to have a space of their own.
Woollahra must work much harder.
This does not mean accepting 10,000 as immutable, nor sacrificing the best surviving fabric of early Sydney in exchange for a corridor of bulky, sad and soulless towers.
It means negotiating seriously over number, form and location: fewer, taller and more slender buildings that show mums and dads around Australia that high-density living can indeed provide a wonderful place to raise a family.
Buildings well separated and set within substantial gardens where children can play in the safety of the Aussie backyard.
Carefully placed to preserve what cannot be replaced.
And supported by real commitments on infrastructure, heritage, trees, sunlight and open space.
Some battles are about stopping something.
This one must be about shaping it.
The State is proceeding. Pretending otherwise is not resistance. It is the logic of the Soviet Politburo: preserve the approved fiction, dismiss every warning, and assume reality will somehow yield.
Reality does not yield. It sends the bill.
And when that debt falls due, it will be Woollahra—thanks to those who peddled this silly fiction—that ultimately pays the price.
0
4
41
1,986
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
I have made these diagrams of the Sydney suburban rail network that show each service pattern that runs every 30 minutes as a separate line. There are separate diagrams for weekday off-peak services and weekend services.
2
11
127
6,616
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Simplified cross-sectional diagrams of train stations with platforms on multiple levels in Sydney, showing the general layout of platforms, concourses, and stairs/escalators.
4
4
38
1,296
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
My summary of the housing debate.
The expert consensus is that zoning restrictions make housing expensive.
The NSW Treasurer provides a good statement of this view.
There are three main groups who disagree. A thread. 1/6
The expert consensus is that zoning restrictions make housing expensive.
The NSW Treasurer provides a good statement of this view.
There are three main groups who disagree. A thread. 1/6
3
9
55
5,946
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
The Australian Productivity Commission has backed the call from YIMBY groups to adopt a national townhouse code.
It should not be illegal to build three storey townhouses just about anywhere in Sydney.
Full report linked below, it’s a banger ⤵️
It should not be illegal to build three storey townhouses just about anywhere in Sydney.
Full report linked below, it’s a banger ⤵️
4
10
49
1,940
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
“If you want prices to come down, build housing. If you want them to go up you block housing. If not here, where?”
1
1
5
230
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Now Bambul: “For a decade I had the privilege of teaching at Rose Bay secondary college, and living in an affordable housing unit in Bondi Junction.
Recently I had to move away from Waverley to buy a home near Redfern, I couldn’t afford to stay.”
Recently I had to move away from Waverley to buy a home near Redfern, I couldn’t afford to stay.”
1
1
3
339
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
Celebrating the United States 250th birthday in the next month with some Patriotic Nate Bargatze SNL skits which are unpolitical . . . tangent but I have no problem with SNL being political I just want them to be an equal opportunity offender so to speak.
@Cat5SMASHICANE Love these Patriotic SNL skits . . . on a semi-political side tangent (as I usually keep my posts on film), in my opinion what wrong with The United States is most of us picked a side fueled by media, but we are kinda all in this boat together so to speak.
2
24
269
608,581
Bambul Shakibaei retweeted
My brother posts this every year in the family chat on the 4th. Still hilarious.
843
14,947
103,192
6,453,533
