Copy of letter to the Express Advocate - Designer Deckchairs in the Desert
Congratulation to the State government for getting a much needed Regional Strategy and Gosford City Plan up for comment. However anyone interested in the Arts who is looking at these proposals will be feeling rather depressed.
Neither of the plans show awareness of the role of the Arts in society.
The City Plan redesigns and rearranges the deckchairs, but the ship is the same old ‘economic’ model – with more passengers, and although their cabins will have better views, that is the only water they will see.
At this stage it is all style without substance. Corralling similar activities into “precincts” seems to be the magic formula, but we are not told how this will work.
The opportunity to comment could be the opportunity to put some content into the style. It makes sense to cluster a library, museum, contemporary art centre, concert hall and film theatre at the City Centre – Kibble Park
We need to find and support any planners and politicians who are serious about Art, and who understand that Art is more than just leisure activity – a life style option. “The importance of creativity ultimately reveals itself specifically in the important questions that art asks about the foundations of the ideology and the collective moral foundations of our age.” – Marketta Seppälä
We need a cluster of creative and knowledge industries at the centre of civic life. “a room without books is like a body without soul” – Cicero.
The Gosford City Plan is on display for comment until December 8. If we say nothing, that is what we will get.
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4 comments:
Planning to bring another 10,000 people to the City is just crazy. Will they never learn that constant expansion, "progress", to fuel commercial interests, in a finite environment is unsustainable!
I sometimes travel to Newcastle for exhibitions and enjoy the centre of the city. It seems a little like your proposal for Gosford.
The regional gallery, library, central park, university and a cluster of vibrant artist run galleries are clustered in easy walking distance from each other, and the railway station – and a short walk to the waterside Honysuckle development with great restaurants etc.
Also their sports stadium is well out of the way where there is adequate parking.
22 story buildings in Gosford?
The plans described in the Advocate for multistory buildings sounds like science fiction.Maybe we need hovercars too. Sounds like boy's toys to me.
Paris seems to work well with more modest, egalitarian erections.
Who Pays the Piper?
Who benefits from housing more people in the CBD and procuring more water supplies for an increased regional population?
A Clue:
In the two blocks of Mann Street CBD, almost 50% of the shop fronts are Real Estate or Financial businesses.
-Lined up and waiting for the feeding frenzy to begin.
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