Spare a thought for NIMBYs

"It's concerning that we listen to the general public for planning in our city rather than the experts who understand growth of a city," said another. Wow. Imagine listening to the general public in a democracy? Why bother when you have unelected experts ready to tell you what's in your best interests?

The so-called "townhouse ban" was in response to the feedback of more than 100,000 residents who responded to a widespread community survey "Plan Your Brisbane." Planning Chair at the time, Cr Matt Bourke, said: "Their feedback was clear – no more cookie-cutter townhouses on properties that are intended for single homes."

Neither side of politics will show much interest in pushing for policy changes which the people who elect them vigorously oppose. This is called democracy. When Labor Deputy Mayor David Hinchliffe gave the annual Keeble Planning Lecture in 2017, he observed that:

If you push too hard for this [planning] ideal in the face of that [public] reality, it becomes a political issue in your community, you get defeated and the person who replaces you invariably has learned the lesson of your demise and will make it much harder for planners to wield that [policy] stick in their patch in the future.

In public life, if you don't learn that, you don't stay around long.

Ironically, industry groups or larger developers who complain about the NIMBY phenomenon can at the same time be guilty of their own version of zoning protectionism. One look at how viciously the anti-competitive "retail hierarchy" planning laws (which effectively prevent further competition within defined trade areas) are fought out in court shows that self interest is a powerful motivator. "We would object to a competitor moving a pot plant if we thought it in our interests," a senior Westfield operative once said to me. Doesn't this make Westfield and other large corporates no different to the home owning NIMBY?

The attacks on NIMBYs though will continue. They will be accused (and found guilty) of everything from causing climate change to social inequity. The accusers will be the same usual cabal of unelected academics, urban "visionaries" and assorted media commentators whose own homes and lifestyles are no doubt safely protected from adverse policy changes while they lecture others on their selfish ways. And the tensions will only increase as competition for space and housing increases.

How will NIMBYs respond? That's best left to Darryl Kerrigan, lead protagonist in Aussie film classic The Castle:

Darryl: Tell em to get stuffed!

(He also said: "What are you calling an eyesore? It's called a home ya dickhead!)