Many people just don't like Baird's vibe

The placards erected over the mounds of mulch near Randwick Racecourse tell the story of all the forward thinking that has gone into these measures, and how much this city will be on the move. The effect is unfortunate: for instead of the well-established trees, only a mess remains, wrapped in a multitude of high blue signs whhich attempt to hide the damage. The term "Chopper Baird" has been seen once or twice in the Sydney Morning Herald Letters pages. Environmentalists called it a war on trees, pointing to many other examples of tree-felling. In sum: "We make a wilderness and call it progress".

Overpasses and underpasses

Then there's WestConnex. Unfortunately, land for just such a freeway was foolishly sold off by the Wran Labor Government some years ago, perhaps after the urging of inner-city branches of the party. A large freeway will now be built, and people are being told to move house. Those who objected were denounced as inner-city latte-sippers. Such people are not living in the real world in which most of us need freeways to get to work, Duncan Gay said.

Duncan Gay has already helped pedestrians move around with his Tibby Cotter Bridge over Anzac Parade, in south Sydney. At the cost of thirty eight million, a skimpy prefab pedestrian bridge appeared, and it looks like poor value for money. The bridge might be useful for people walking to the cricket. Or people who might be walking their dog or having a bit of a run. But otherwise it seems useless, unless it might lead to a large apartment block which might be built nearby. The bridge could have been bigger, but it seems you don't get very much for thirty eight million dollars these days, especially after a few million dollars' blow-out. There have been embarrassing comparisons of much more difficult constructions and more practical bridges built for much the same amount. The Auditor-General made a scathing report on the weak justification for the bridge, the unnecessary haste, and the poor value for money paid.

Newcastle: the city of tomorrow?

And then there is Newcastle. This city has been stagnating for years. The inner-city part of the line was under-used, and probably used in the main by unemployed people, pensioners and similar; people who wouldn't make too much fuss. A few kilometres of track were sold, and then land was freed up for private enterprise to develop. Business groups hailed the decision; a 'Save Our Rail' group did not. There will be a light rail; but no date has been set nor plans unveiled. The Government said it hoped to have light rail operating by 2019. It hoped? "We're about building tomorrow's Newcastle", said Transport Minister Andrew Constance. A deal to enable this decision was brokered by the Shooters and Fishers Party, which has critical votes in the NSW Upper House. Control of the Upper House has been a vital issue for NSW governments in recent years.

The talk and the reality

There are more questionable decisions, notably the continuing debate over Barangaroo. Very close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge a very tall building will be erected . There have been very crude names used to describe such a large and impressive structure, suggestive of the male anatomy. It seems as if Mr Packer has obtained a very useful place in which to put a casino. Neither major party seems willing to oppose him, though questions have been asked about the way in which we seem to be inviting big-time gamblers and various shady types into our city. Frankly, we seem to have enough of them already. The TV drama "Rake" is certainly funny, but the high-level bribery and corruption, drug-taking , and sleazy types infesting the city are far too familiar to a Sydney audience. Only this week we heard that even Rugby League may be tainted with match-fixing, bribed footballers, and sports betting corrupting honest football. Whoever would have thought it?

Elizabeth Farrelly has been writing in the Sydney Morning Herald about the false choices being offered by Baird. In particular, there is talk of public transport versus streets clogged with cars. The reality is that we are getting a poor version of light rail and losing a lot of public land and tree-lined corridors. The more we hear of consultation, the more we see consolidation. The 'jackboot approach' Farrelly perceives reminds her of the way Bjelke-Petersen stamped on opposition in Queensland, bulldozing historic buildings in the dead of night. She foresees that much public land will be lost, to be replaced by tall towers offering more and more apartments. We are losing the Sydney we love so much, inch by inch, quarter acre by quarter acre. We are losing a city we love and gaining an urban jungle none of us will want to live in any more. The barbarians will have won.