Bureaucracies, grass roots and bean counting

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urban room ♪╠ land identity
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M. John Latham Architect 0447 651 420 debox@bigblue.net.au San Francisco St Sorell TASMANIA 7172 ABN 41 893 428 929
REVIEW: DESIGN OF THE BUREAUCRACY(IES)
SOUTHERN TASMANIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AN URBAN ARCHITECT’S PERSPECTIVE 1/9/11
These comments are humbly in response to the call from the Independent Panel (Munro Eslake
Hains) currently asking for feedback in association with their options paper.
As ever the focus appears to have fallen to bias on creating management without wholistic inventory
of tasks. It may well be that status quo personnel wisdoms hold the inventory cherished in mind –
probably each with their own idea and no simple agreed statement.
I note the faded rose “sense of place”: it has served well for bean counters as a vague connection to the
grassroots of the environment physicality and community spirits that is the very fundamental calling for all the
action coordination that we call committees, groups, panels, governments.
Update “sense of place”: to character of place. Describe this character and tune reponses to resilience. From
backyards, favorite campsites, Macfree downhome community to global metro. From cultural place identities
& lifelong locale options to intimacy with Canberra. The island of Tasmania rather than the state of Tasmania
is the calling. Country has roots city has antennae: more antennae than roots in the review designs.
To politically ascertain the roots in a timely way takes a well informed and well rooted politician. The
independent panel (above) is a refreshment here but needs an architects rant. The roots create the specific
management demands, the politician responds.
Southern Tasmania is not an entity flowing to Hobart though there is a strong very strong global movement for
centralization. Capital cities for sure, but not at the cost of country towns and natural campsites; not at the cost
of not developing new country towns; not at the cost of the capital city of each private domain. Administration
centres and services must be present in locale. Familiar face to face personalities must carry the torches. Local
votes perhaps should be loaded to balance national voting in grassroots priorities. Of course the English
burroughs and shires are full of humanities bickerings but so are the european union managements. We must
live with our fallibilities whilst pushing the right orders.
IN ESSENCE:
First priority: safeguard our own potato patch and local lifestyles – our island(s) heritages,
resources, establishments & desires. (Protect our young from the undesirable by building their
robustness in burgeoning local identity).
Bring in the NBN & the satellite links, centralise sensibly among burgeoning townships.

2. Let state grow out of grassroots and local managements. Let national grow out of the same. It is
best with more local entities chatting & cross pollinating with each other and their
representatives under them in geographically regional chat rooms (some small some large). The
chat rooms make use of state local government administrative resources catering to both generic
& specific requests. Let the chatrooms set their own boundaries and make their requests in their
own budgets. State/localgov resourcing boundaries will vary across the aspects; roads, sewers,
mainstreet public realm, sporting etc – these probably don’t need to have common boundaries.
Let local, state & national government respect their common ownership in the grassroots and
therefore be unified in priority without assumptions of one over the other. (The national road
standards should not have carte blanche in its dominance over Tasmania’s character).
Eye on the ball: the island character not the beans. … the conservation & architectures will
generate the truth of the beans.
John Latham
APPENDIX MISCELLANEA
1. Local cultural place identity arises from locals and locale.
It is sane that locales should consolidate in coordinating their regional and ‘whole of island’ matters to
their own interests and those of other locales.
And so there must (there must) be citizen voice, group voice, council voice, regional and island voice
(who cares if we’re a state in these matters) (well actually our federal consolidation can be handy in
placemaking).
Of course this is complex liaison. So is a moon landing. There’s a lot to say. for now though;
I sent this below to the mercury once prompted by a King Island voice on town identity and function.
LOCALES TOGETHER
Thankyou Paul Blizzard (28.12.02) for succinctly illustrating that a traditional healthy quality of local
life can be best achieved without the stifling and siphonings of incorrect global trade. As you say King
Island is an example to follow. King Island is to Tasmania as Tasmania is to Australia and as
Australia is to the West – a last vestige still to be assimilated and become reliant upon a fickle Global
mega-monster. Without our local economies and the healthy colloquial cultures and strength of
character they bring, we can be caught, without our own potatoes, as wage slaves to absent landlords
and worse. Local people please unite and consolidate with Tasmania’s other locales, buoyed by their
own uniqueness ready to accept a pioneer’s adversity and create filters to extremely urgently control
Global inflows and siphonings.
It’s hard in the face of the monster’s extant momentum here - fat kids, ghastly televisory imageries,
machine poker and established deals. Whilst the State fights and seduces the monster to aid itself on
one hand, it imposes similar and transfers global economic imperialising down-under to its own
locales.

3. Tasmania has two heads. One is afflicted with gullibilities, shortsightedness, common greed, nervous
desperation and philistinian values. The other is meek, slow to speak, and awfully nice to have
country scones with. They could both do with urgent counselling – but one has to come off.
There must be more local strength. There’s not much left down under Downunder and even less down
under that. Please give King Island higher media celebration than wood-chipping and teach our
country children more from the local creek than uncensored global television.
What is the name of the main Tasmanian island? Nameless! What is the name of the main Tasmanian
government? Consolidated Locales of Tasmania - imagine. Will the vast silent majority of selective
country-loving clots please speak up at every opportunity? Global (and Federal and State) is an
answer if it is lorded by local community. Flex the local bicep and repioneer for the kids. The tourists
will love it.
M.J.Latham,
Political Renovations Division
Urban, Land, Identity and Room Architectures
Posted by Mont on 11/04/09 at 09:00 AM
2. Tasmania is best served by planning for a synergy of;
Burgeoning townships,⋅
Limited-growth burgeoning cities and⋅
⋅ Environmental recreation with
Links to the megapolii. ⋅
(and rural and resource extraction and coast waters)
Even now, in our rundown condition, a potpourri of delight and interest awaits both the visiting and
local driver. And this, whilst oft die-hard towns people enjoy deeply humane lifestyles and others
depart to survive.
In the fostering of our country towns there are cultural, economic, social, lifestyle and industrial
potentials for the State and the Nation.
A way forward for Tasmania that makes maximum use of some of our niche market characteristics and
our preferred values: a way forward that also offers, through coordinated decentralisation, some relief
from city sprawl.
Local communities, local ownership, local uniqueness, local administration and local
hospitality exist in towns simultaneously
with some matching aspects of State and Federal values…….but these values are justified first and
foremost by township lifestyle and natural locale.
In creating the “bigger picture” we have somewhat neglected the smaller, and so suffer the emotional
pain of dying towns and the increasing emotional and environmental problems of over-centralisation.
The nub of this is that today practical and synergetic liaison does not adequately occur among towns
people, region(s), Municipality(s), State, Nation and the various pertinent non-political expertise.
Town people need pertinent practical advice and skill, as do the broader bodies – a one-stop township
action shop - at hand.
A ‘townships unit’, potent in urban and social skills, could participate with an ‘all parties liaison
committee’, ascertaining, advising and undertaking balanced Town and State development objectives.

4. The inspired energy of local activists and dare I say of state activists can in this way be fostered for
authentic community development and placemaking of Town and State.
JL
Posted by Mont on 11/04/09 at 09:13 AM
The network of towns and stuff now on this Palawan playgound island is a sick organism contagious to
the frog (and the brown locals). It is green to bring it to health.
Future Directions - socio-economic
There is very significant opportunity, particularly in Tasmania, to optimise socio-economic circumstance using urban-
environmental design. In any responsible action to this end the potentials of urban planning, urban design, landscape
architecture, architecture, public art, interior architecture and local cultural development would be fully acknowledged
and facilitated through existing and new planning and cultural frameworks. The spin-offs from such action contribute to
human capital, lifestyle, tourism, citizen participation, vibrant communities, wilderness interface and all the other reasons
we value good constructed environment.
1 LOOKING AT SETTLEMENTS
A statewide conservation plan
Consider limitations of settlement areas and locations (hand in hand with appearance and impact)
The above will show potential sites for new settlements and settlement expansion
Evaluate (by full input) extant settlements for overall worth to the people regions and state (incl self
sustainability)
Assess settlements re cultural, functional,state team, etc and draft renovation plans
A statewide highways/settlement/hospitalityplan interfacing a natural and cultural landscape and ecosystem
(complete settlement infrastructure and impact plan)
Assess optimum population size and plan for strategy re potential demand for high increase. LOOKING AT
LANDUSE ETC>
Consolidated Tas committee - united communities
Facilitate grassroots growth
Generic preface to the report
Framework for process to produce politic solns.
Empowerment of individuals as to their built environment and place of living to produce a whole of state sketch
plan.
Vibrant communities benchmarks
- workshop community needs and relationships
State plan, regional plans, locale plans, town plans, sector palns, neighbourhood plans, tascord
2
Looking at the whole report. How can the negatives be resolved and the positives secured and enhanced, and the
uncertainties utilise

5. by the potentials of settlement.
There are many processes already in action. Cead, local strategic plans, tastog, logging,
3
EVALUATE USE POTENTIALS OF SETTLEMENTSAND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS.
the obvious and workplace design and house design
urban designcan be usedto create , support and enhance community togetherness, ownership, optimism
road design can disrupt valuable land aesthetic and character of place
advance architecture and landscape architecture and urban design with a wise balance between expert will and
user nous
advance all impact assessment skills
public education
settlements in economy and lifestyle – tourism, consolidate tas
-united plan
The State Government's new program to attempt some assurance for better land-use planning outcomes will
undoubtedly follow the interesting little macrocosm set by the waning globe. We see the extremes in people’s
values in global politics and when you count in big corporate commerce and political survival traditions we see
it here in Tasmanian land politics. Kyoto, oil in Alaska, bomb craters in good landscape, democracy and
dictatorship, “Is God the devil or is the devil god?”, “There’s no god (small ‘g’) but I’m more kosher than you”.
“They’ve cut down all the trees in Europe so why not here”. New Yorks rampant and they love it. Money can’t
buy love and divorce is epidemic, but not as important as interest rates. And it’s interest rates that confirm the
mindset that is going to wipe the gloat off the Tasmanians who can see what we have to cherish. Our people
voted for interest rates over anything, so are they going to turn away when a big corporation says it’ll bring
money, no. And if there is to be a miniscule of moderation whose values are going to prevail? People are the
same the world over. But maybe Tasmania is a little blessed and therefore a little saner. Courage – not much!
Vision and imagination – don’t properly fit the bureaucracy (the fluorescent tubes drain it out). And then how do
we write it down so it can’t be torn apart? And so it can be understood by the next generation? There’s
something far more fundamental than a simple plan for our island’s land use that must be established. Our
people’s chaotic and desperate clamour for materialistic social ego must first be turned to a calm and
understanding respect for the simplicities of life. If you have running water and a phone, you’re one of the top
2% rich in the world. To the properly poor, you’re not noticeably different to Murdoch or Packer. Let’s save our
priceless landscapes, our terrific little towns and let’s apply our minds to fantastically refined urban
developments that sit like jewels in the perpetually modern nature which is as simple as Bruny Island, as what
Sullivans Cove was 200 years ago and as a backyard in St Marys. Let’s value these things ahead of money.
Let’s understand how the aboriginal people (small ‘a’) of this land, our Aborigines, see us and how they see the
land. What was Cochise fighting for and what is so noble about King Billy?
No need for us to die for it, just plan for it and have special provisions for those who will abuse the plan, like
terrorists or rampant capitalists. And then stand in defense, prepared to hone the remnant toward the only
scope that will keep it properly healthy for our descendants. There’s a lot more to it than the forest. And please
let’s refer to this place and its lifestyle as an island(s) far more so than a state. It’s incremental cultural growth
that shapes our politics far more so than politics shaping our lifestyle.