Pick of the week - A visit from the Goon Squad
BENDIGO’S residential Strategy will be reviewed because of greater than expected growth.
The State Government has announced a grant of $50,000 to carry out the review.
The review is needed because, according to the State Government, 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
Regional Development Parliamentary Secretary Damian Drum made the announcement this morning.
Mr Drum said the Bendigo Residential Strategy Review would deliver greater community and investor certainty, helping the region grow.
“The Bendigo Residential Development Strategy was adopted in 2004 and is currently being audited because of the faster than anticipated growth that has occurred in Bendigo in recent years,” he said.
“Strong residential growth has many flow-on economic benefits and having a clear framework for future development will position Greater Bendigo City Council to undertake more detailed, place-based planning in the future.”
Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said about 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
The Residential Strategy impacts directly on where and how property developments use “infill” parcels of land, range of housing styles and also on housing affordability.
“This project will review the strategy, assess current and estimated land supply and demand and consider various legislative and policy changes,” Mr Ryan said,
“It will also consider the latest demographic data and establish a new strategic framework to guide the long-term residential growth of Greater Bendigo.
“The project will result in a revised residential strategy that will give developers, the community and service providers greater surety and confidence about where land can be developed for residential purposes, and that sufficient land is available to accommodate the City of Greater Bendigo’s future growth.”
Mr Ryan said a contemporary strategic planning framework was essential to the economic development of a large regional centre like Bendigo.
“Clearly identifying future growth options and supporting infrastructure needs will enable the Greater Bendigo City Council and other infrastructure providers to plan their capital works programs well in advance,” he said.
“Identifying long-term growth areas will enable the council and other service authorities to start planning for the delivery of services, thereby minimising the lag time between when residential development occurs and when the services need to be in place.”
Rosemary Sorensen | Bendigo Weekly | 20-Jan-2012
Jennifer Egan
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Constable and Robinson, $19.99
THE way writers such as Jennifer Egan go about their novels may just be a reason that the paper book will not be entirely replaced by the ebook.
While you can whip through Egan’s fast, funny, bold A Visit from the Goon Squad on a reading device, this the kind of story that you might find running away from you if you don’t keep up. The good thing about real pages is they stay there with you, always visible, so if you need to check back a page or chapter or to the beginning, there is no drama. Yes, you can search for a word in an ebook, but that takes you away from the current page, and off into cyberspace again.
Whichever way you read this one, however, be prepared to be entertained in the fast lane.
Egan lives in Brooklyn and writes for the New York Times. She has written five books of fiction (the first a collection of short stories). This one, which is a disconcerting mix of short story and novel, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and is now, gradually, becoming an international best-seller.
It’s about a group of people, loosely linked across a couple of generations, who are faced with the way the “goon squad” – the passing of time – catches up with them at different points of their lives. Some don’t survive. Others survive despite their best efforts to make a mess of things. Others merely muddle along, almost adjacent to the main action, but feeling on their faces the blast of wind and sometimes fire from other events.
We start with Sasha, who has a compulsion to nick things. How she got to that point, and what happens is one part of a jigsaw puzzle, which put together will show us a funny, but tough, picture of contemporary life.
It’s sort of about the music world, the era of punk and its aftermath, when music promoters realised how to create and profit from the next big thing.
It’s also about power, both sexual and financial, and how an irresponsible adult can damage so many young lives.
There are secrets that only come out many years, and chapters, later, but each section can also stand alone as an incident and story.
This is very modern storytelling, for and of the times. There is a kindness in the writing that prevents it from becoming too slick and depressing, even when people behave very badly, and tragedy happens.
Very entertaining, A Visit from the Goon Squad may not be a classic, but it’s a deserving best-seller.
–Rosemary Sorensen
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BENDIGO’S residential Strategy will be reviewed because of greater than expected growth.
The State Government has announced a grant of $50,000 to carry out the review.
The review is needed because, according to the State Government, 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
Regional Development Parliamentary Secretary Damian Drum made the announcement this morning.
Mr Drum said the Bendigo Residential Strategy Review would deliver greater community and investor certainty, helping the region grow.
“The Bendigo Residential Development Strategy was adopted in 2004 and is currently being audited because of the faster than anticipated growth that has occurred in Bendigo in recent years,” he said.
“Strong residential growth has many flow-on economic benefits and having a clear framework for future development will position Greater Bendigo City Council to undertake more detailed, place-based planning in the future.”
Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said about 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
The Residential Strategy impacts directly on where and how property developments use “infill” parcels of land, range of housing styles and also on housing affordability.
“This project will review the strategy, assess current and estimated land supply and demand and consider various legislative and policy changes,” Mr Ryan said,
“It will also consider the latest demographic data and establish a new strategic framework to guide the long-term residential growth of Greater Bendigo.
“The project will result in a revised residential strategy that will give developers, the community and service providers greater surety and confidence about where land can be developed for residential purposes, and that sufficient land is available to accommodate the City of Greater Bendigo’s future growth.”
Mr Ryan said a contemporary strategic planning framework was essential to the economic development of a large regional centre like Bendigo.
“Clearly identifying future growth options and supporting infrastructure needs will enable the Greater Bendigo City Council and other infrastructure providers to plan their capital works programs well in advance,” he said.
“Identifying long-term growth areas will enable the council and other service authorities to start planning for the delivery of services, thereby minimising the lag time between when residential development occurs and when the services need to be in place.”
