Michael Mobbs - Sydney's Sustainable House

Water insensitive design

This ‘raingarden’ has failed because:

-  water entering from the left never gets past the grate

-  the level of the garden is higher than the gutter and the level of the garden past the pit is over 100 mm higher than the entry point of the water from the gutter

-  gravel is carried from the ‘raingarden’ to the pit requiring truck suckers to vacuum out the gravel

- replacement gravel is being imported to replenish the eroded gravel

- the volume of stormwater from the adjoining building exceeds the water from the road in most rainfall events and is wasted by being diverted away instead of being used to water street trees and ‘raingardens’

Do Gooders Doing Harm in Chippo

Ah, this day; such a beauty of sun, clear light and, here and there, drops of silence.

But.

The local council did some works to some local streets in Chippendale; Buckland, Myrtle and Meagher Streets.  The aim the council and it’s consultants gave themselves was to make the streets more attractive for citizens, safer for pedestrians and to clean up stormwater entering Sydney Harbour, but not to make the car a guest on our streets.

Nothing was to be done for birds, insects and little critters in the ground which help to grow soil, trees, plants and sustain us; to increase biodiversity.  And there are other defects, but let’s discuss here, on this lovely sunny day, something which has an element of farce and laughter to it.

The failure to design for, understand and get it right with stormwater.

After $1.8 million of our rates money and some rainfalls it’s possible to identify some design defects in some of the new works with the self-serving titles of ‘water sensitive urban design’, and ‘raingardens’.

We have here a classic case of Do Gooders seeking to do good, actually doing harm.

It’s a natural reaction to turn up the volume of our inner sceptic when folks give themselves favourable titles.  Who could dare to criticise someone who, for example, is the author of a ‘water sensitive urban design’?  Surely, such a person sits on the right hand of the gods.  Particularly when they bless one’s community with a ‘raingarden’.  And that’s what we have here, according to the consultants and the council; ‘water sensitive urban design’, and ‘raingardens’.

Still, the urge in this citizen, is not to fall to our knees in the presence of such works and blessings.

It is, simply, to look, ask questions and ask some more.

Yesterday I photographed a truck in Myrtle Street, roaring away, sucking up gravel which has been washed into a large concrete pit in a ‘raingarden’.

A couple of days before I photographed bags put down where water enters another raingarden to slow down the stormwater entering the raingarden.

How much energy is required and who pays for these delightful after thoughts to the incompetent designs foisted on us is also something not to discuss here; later, perhaps.

We can merely speculate at the true impacts of these “water sensitive’ works on our lovely but torn mother Earth.

And we can enjoy the photos.

May the truck suckers and the bagmen be with you as they are with our streets,

Michael

Dear The Wild One

I apologise for calling you a ‘stupid dinosaur’ in my blog here yesterday.

Not sure how you found out, as you don’t have internet in your chookhouse.

But even if you hadn’t been informed I was planning to apologise.  Sure, you ate and ruthlessly destroyed all my rocket plants in a wanton rampaging way.  But I should not have said those words.

May the appellations not be with you,

The (Remorseful) Gardener

[I think that does it, don’t you, Chook Lover?]

A Short History of Thoughts About Height

Just two thoughts are provided in this short history.

As can be seen from yesterday’s post, The Gardener has his hands full dealing with The Wild One, and can spare little time for matters of state.  But history is seductive so here is a short note about a little of it and concerning that vexed topic, urban design.

One thought is from 1900, and one is in 2010.  Both thoughts involve the same person, Paul Keating, former Prime Minister and Treasurer.

In 1990, when Federal Treasurer, Paul Keating was empowered to control building design for projects funded from overseas.  For such a project which planned to redevelop the Paddy’s Market site at Darling Harbour, Sydney, Mr Keating made the developer reduce the height from 36 stories to 26 levels.  We know this because of a court case which says in part:

“After looking at plans presented to him by Mr Choy, Mr Keating said that after he had taken into account all the considerations his responsibilities demanded, he found the original Rockvale building to be unacceptable with its 36 storey tower. He said that in order to be more sympathetic with the surrounding environment the tower needed to be shorter, thus not overly intruding upon the skyline and neighbouring buildings. After looking at amended plans presented by Mr Choy there was some discussion between Mr Keating and Mr Choy on details of the plans which the First Respondent cannot now recall, as no notes were taken at the meeting. Mr Keating said that he saw merit in the amended plans. Mr Choy asked whether Rockvale could submit an amended proposal based on these plans. Mr Keating said that Rockvale would be entitled to submit an amended proposal based on the plans shown to him, and that the Foreign Investment Review Board would consider them and make a recommendation to the Government.”

Later in the court decision the Darling Harbour Authority, which also controlled development there was reported as having said about the amended plans sent to Mr Keating:

… ” Reduction of the commercial tower height by 10 floors, from 36 to 26 levels is acceptable.  Redistribution of lost floor space in the remaining 26 tower floors and the podium level is supported in principle. “

[These quotes are from a court case, Re Yates Security Services Pty Limited v Honourable Paul Keating Mp; Rockvale Pty Limited; Valtone Pty Limited and the Registrar General of New South Wales [1990] FCA 432; 98 ALR 21 (2 November 1990)]

The Paddy’s Market site sits at the base of the Darling Harbour cove, about 800 metres from its southern shore.

Spin 20 years on to this year and Mr Keating, no longer in parliament, was chairman of the Barangaroo Delivery Authority’s design review committee.  This time Mr Keating approved several buildings 60 floors or so high to be built on Darling Harbour waters or beside it.  They dominant views and it will no longer be possible to see the harbour from a large swathe of the shore.

Access by foot for the citizens to these buildings may only be had from one side by land.  Only limited uses found in the rest of the city, such as hotels or office blocks, are planned for these projects with some cafes and shops at ground level.

Mr Keating wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald last weekend in defence of his decision to approve these buildings which are about three times higher than the building he refused to approve in a much less prominent site in 1990:

“The historic and heritage stone line of Bridge Street means the city can go no further north. It therefore has only one place to go and that is west. And it can only turn west north of King Street and that is to and upon the old Patrick wharves along Hickson Road. But it must make the turn in a big and confident way; for without larger buildings and a critical mass of people it will die on the periphery as other similar sites in Australia have died.”

If there’s one part of Sydney which still has life at the street level for much of the day it’s Paddy’s Markets.

Why?

One contributor to the life is the ground level markets where several hundred small stallholders sell cheap fruit and veggies, as well as clothing and other stuff.  We citizens can walk into the markets on all four sides of the building.

It’s not the bigness or the mass or the might of the project that makes this part of the city work; its the street level activity and diversity, including the affordable food folk may buy there; the markets are the belly of the city.

The stallholders, who initiated the series of court cases that saved the markets, were able to give the markets life to this day by having an Act of Parliament made which guaranteed the markets would have a minimum number and space allocated to the markets, thus:

“7. The Darling Harbour Authority shall ensure that the development of the Development Area will be carried out in such a manner as to enable not less than 85 per cent of the number of stalls existing at the Paddy’s Market site as at 25 January 1988 to be re-accommodated with minimal reduction in stall size, level with Hay Street throughout that site and with adequate vehicle access points as soon as practicable after the date of assent to this Act.”

Here endeth the short history of two thoughts.

Back to The Wild One,

May the street be with you.

The Wild One gets out

Diary of a chook ownin’ man

March 4:

Yesterday The Wild One, a chook with white tail feathers and attitude, scaled the perimeter wire, braved the booby traps and ate every last one of my much loved, much anticipated, baby rocket plants.

Man. When I saw her in there digging away at my plants, the stupid little dinosaur, I wanted to wring her neck. The Gardener was sooooo angry. A killing field of dug up, mauled and mostly eaten rocket can do that to you.

Gardening can bring a bloke to abandon all aspirations to peace, non-violence and zen.

Whether it’s feral chooks, grubs, white hard-to-see spiders that eat a toiling boy’s fragrant mint, snails that show no respect (or style) for my proud green basil and spinach … there’s no shortage of barbarians intent on despoiling my little crops; it’s a war zone sometimes.

The Chook Lover (you know who you are) said The Wild One only acted in self defence against poor feeding by The Gardener. That is to say, The Wild One had gone one day without special treats of corn or weeds, spinach and such – hadn’t had her greens to which she is fully entitled under the Bill of Chook Rights.

Anyway, back to getting some more rocket going.

Waste red tape shovels money to big business

The lack of imagination, lack of international best practice, lack of action, and the huge shoveling of citizens’ money to big waste companies in Australia is spellbinding to behold.

Every time you see a huge (costly), frequently passing (costly), very full (costly), very noisy (costly) garbage truck think of this:

• • in Sweden and Norway the consumer can get a refund of 50% of the purchase price of EU eco-labeled compost bins
  • furthermore, by composting, the citizens get reductions of their garbage fees
  • in this way the governments there support the consumers to make certain purchase decisions …

Now why would this not happen in Australia?

Could it be because local councils and state governments are too close to the large companies which profit by needlessly taking away food waste that can be composted?

Oh, no.

Could it be because Australia’s local councils don’t keep up with international best practice?

Oh, no.

What could the reason be then for so much wasted money, and the wasting and polluting garbage sector in Australia?

On local government’s capacity to manage change you may wish to read this:

-  www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/9710

May the compost be with you,

Michael