High density inevitable

People urged to welcome big apartment blocks

GOLD Coast residents have to embrace high-density living or forget about their children living near them.

John Daley, CEO of public policy think tank the Grattan Institute, said every city in the developed world had to battle the pressures brought on by increased population.

Professor Daley said Australia was littered with planning documents proposing to in- crease densities in major cities, but most failed because residents did not want large apartment buildings in their suburbs.

“The local population says it should not happen in my backyard, so the politics become very difficult,” said Prof Daley who has published extensively on economic reform priorities, budget policy, tax reform, housing affordability and generational inequality.

“If you want your children to be able to afford a house or a dwelling near you, there will have to be more development in your suburb.”

His comments come as residents in coastal suburbs of Mermaid Beach, Nobby Beach and Palm Beach are lobbying their city councillors to block large residential developments in their areas.

Applications have been approved under the City Plan which allows developers to take advantage of a 50 per cent increase over the guidelines in height limits, densities, setbacks and site coverage.

Last week, the inaugural Gold Coast city architect Philip Follent said the plan favoured developers ahead of residents.

Council’s planning committee later declined a 12-unit development proposed for Palm Beach.

However, councillors Cameron Caldwell and William Owen-Jones said that with more than 10,000 people moving to the Gold Coast each year, development was inevitable and the City Plan was the tool to manage that.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Gold Coast and Logan president Sean Sandford said the City Plan was driven by the State Government’s increased density requirements.

“The State is basically saying we have sunk millions of dollars into the infrastructure on the Gold Coast, whether that is true or not, and they want people to live around it,” he said.

“I hope my kids want to grow up and live on the Gold Coast but to do that I can’t expect them to live on a 600sq m and 1000sq m block. They will live in smaller townhouses and units.”