Why are central and local politicians deliberately obstructing an affordable / normal recovery ?

Can Christchurch be saved ... Georgina Stylianou ... The Press

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/10002634/Can-Christchurch-be-saved

Secretly wanting to give up on Christchurch ... Opinion ... Greg Jackson ... The Press

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/10000094/Secretly-wanting-to-give-up-on-Chch

EPIC pulls out over innovation precinct saga | Stuff.co.nz

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/10003855/EPIC-pulls-out-over-innovation-precinct-saga

Just more political failure in a constant stream of it …

From The Press article (EPIC pulls out) above …

“Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said he had no concerns about the progress of the innovation precinct, but it was ‘disappointing that EPIC have decided they can't continue there’”.

“Brownlee would not comment on whether the high land price would force smaller businesses out of the innovation precinct but said: ‘A lot of people find when they want something, they can't afford it.’”

“’One of the things that was of concern to Christchurch immediately after the earthquake was the potential value of CBD land.’”

"’People were talking about completely abandoning it. What the CCDU has done through the acquisition programme and through the blueprint . . . they've managed to preserve those [land] values and in any disaster situation that's quite an achievement.’"

FIRST … PAVLETICH COMMENT ON THE PRESS ARTICLE THREAD …

Stephen W and chw ... very good points.

Who were the people who asked Minister Brownlee to artificially inflate land values ? Why hasn't the media actually asked him that question ?

My understanding is that this "artificially inflating land" advice actually came from of all places Treasury. And Treasury too I understand gave Housing Minister Nick Smith the same advice regarding fringe land, with the recent Housing Accord fiasco. That is, to keep it inflated.

Where are those Treasury reports to Ministers Brownlee and Smith? We need to see them reported in The Press.

To the best of my knowledge, there certainly was not any "advice" from business to Brownlee and Smith to artificially inflate land values. If so, surely Minister Brownlee should tell us who these people / organisations are ... and provide us with the written advice he received.

This is the biggest shambles of a recovery in the developed world ... read Christchurch Failure – The Long History | Hugh Pavletich | Scoop News .

FOLLOW-UP POINTS …

1. Locking down the Central Area for 2 years effectively killed it. The general understanding is that 1000 of the 2000 buildings demolished have been for economic reasons not seismic. What is the cost of this unnecessary destruction of the capital stock ?

2. How did artificially inflating central land values actually assist the redevelopment of the central area ?

3. How much is it costing taxpayer unnecessarily for Minister Brownlees “central artificial land inflation programme”, taking land out of commercial use ?

4. The reality is that through the supposed recovery phase, it was the bureaucrats at firstly the CCC, then CERA / CCDU that took control of the former central area … and deliberately did not engage with local property owners / business (read back through the history of this bureaucratic boondoogle).

5. The National Party purports to “favour” market solutions” to problems, but has deliberately chosen as a Government to be political parrots for bureaucrats. Why ?

6. Why is the National led Government NOT following its own script with respect to affordable land … refer www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org for access to Deputy Prime Minister English’s Oct 2012 announcement, the subsequence Housing Accords legislation and Prime Minister Keys clear statement late last year ? Why aren’t these clear Government directives reflected in the recently announced Christchurch Housing Accord ?

7. Why was social housing tangled up with the Housing Accord … when clearly, it should have been treated as a separate issue ?

8. From the Christchurch Council side, why hasn’t Housing Committee Chair Cl Glenn Livingstone been the spokesperson on the Housing Accord issue ? Cl Buck’s role appears to be simply social housing. Why has Livingstone been side-lined ?

9. Cl Raf Manji talked sense on housing recently … Manji: Council can't afford social housing | Stuff.co.nz … and on the impact of social housing debt on the City’s Credit Rating earlier by CCHL General Manager Bob Lineham too …City council credit rating at risk | Stuff.co.nz ..

10. Why have both Ministers Brownlee and Smith chosen to support the bureaucrats and ignore peoples and businesses needs with respect to affordable land and proper infrastructure financing, so that a “market priced” recovery across Christchurch can finally get underway ?

11. Christchurch housing is rated internationally “severely unaffordable” at 5.8 Median Multiple, when normal / affordable markets do not exceed 3.0 times (refer Demographia Survey www.demographia.com ).

12. Why does Minister Smith see the much higher residential build rates per 1000 population out in the adjoining Counties of Waimakariri and Selwyn with the associated traffic disruptions and additional travel times as a “good idea” … instead of allowing affordable and convenient land to be supplied on the fringes of Christchurch ?

13. As outlined within Focus on Restoring Housing Affordability there is approximately an artificial million bucks per hectare of artificial land value above True Rural Value on the fringes of Christchurch. Why does Minister Smith think it’s a good idea to keep it in place by persisting in artificially strangling land supply ?

14. New fringe section prices at around the $250,000 mark are about what people should be paying for new starter house and land packages … refer Andrew Atkin THE REAL DEAL poster. Effectively … thanks to Minister Smith … struggling new fringe home buyers are being forced to make an unnecessary “donation” of about $200,000 (with grossly excessive Bank mortgages to go with it) to Ngai Tahu and other subdividers for a little serviced plot of land.

15. Mr Sewell of the Property Division of Ngai Tahu purports to be “concerned” about new house prices (or are hisv real concerns that the degraded house building industry excessive costs are making it too difficult for him to sell grossly expensive sections ?) … refer … House of the rising sum - National - NZ Herald News . Why does Housing Minister Smith support and provide an artificial inflated land pricing protection service for Ngai Tahu and other politically favoured speculators / land bankers …. and ignore peoples need for affordable land ?

16. Why is Minister Smith deliberately hampering the provision of affordable land, so the building industry has the confidence to move away from the current inefficient / excessively expensive Cottage Building / cowboy culture to one where normal commercial disciplines and market pricing are restored … as explained recently with House Prices: Focus on Land Mr Sewell | Scoop News ?

17. When are those consistently making failed decisions and those supporting them (such as Peter Townsend of the Chamber of Commerce) going to be held to account ? In contrast, there have been many who said little but knew from the outset that these failures would occur and why … and developed and invested elsewhere … and very few indeed, who spelt out clearly the reasons for these failures and the solutions required. Isn’t it time for accountability ?

18. What has Mayor Lianne Dalziel with her in large measure band of new Councillors achieved to date in getting the CCC restructured and functional, so that it is fit to take over from CERA in 2016 ? Where is the sense of urgency ?

The media sure have a busy time this week, following up with sound and robust questions.

We are all getting tired of constant failure of the politicians and dim-witted bureaucrats at both central and local level (and their pathetic props such as the local Chamber of Commerce), due to incompetence and being more interested in favouring special interests.

This is why this recovery has been a failure to date. A self-inflicted failure.

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