TINY HOMES AND STUMBLE STONES

"Tiny homes

Just recently, there have been a lot of comments about tiny homes. Some councils say there has been no change in the regulations, but contrary to what they say, there must have been. By the time the councils and possibly the government get through with all the regulations, building, sewage and various other permits, it really isn't worth the hassle. I know one young person who got the OK to put one on a block, but when they did, the council had a different attitude by the time they would have to jump through all the hoops. It just was not worth it, so she sold it. We hear how the councils and the government are sympathetic to the homeless, but when it is all boiled down, they are only interested in the almighty dollar. It's no wonder there are a lot of homeless people living in tents, but it's only a matter of time before the council will give them a permit. That's if they haven't already done so. They say Australia is a free country - I say bulls**t. ... ALLAN SLATER - RAVENSWOOD"

Elsewhere in Australia Local Govt is working to remove the stumble stones that get in the way people finding affordable and more appropriate housing for increasingly diverse communities. It tuns out that, and unsurprisingly in so many ways, in Launceston for instance any challenge to the same old, same old, there'll be resistance to brokering change. Why is this so?

Might it be because 'the people's' representatives are actually self nominated, and that immediately puts their ability to 'represent' in peril. If we think about it, they are actually seeking permission to represent themselves and their world view when putting themselves forward.

More to the point, they go on to appoint a management to do their bidding for them and in turn the fawning managers, who wish to preserve their high salaries and status, are willingly do whatever and then everything in the garden is just rosy.

Well, all is rosy until the represented ask to do something, like live in a tiny house, that is not in the interest of the self nominated and 'elected' cohort of 'deciders' and their enforcers.

In communities where 'the people' are enabled to represent themselves this cannot happen and generally the people live in places that fits, and developed to fit, their collective needs. However, such communities are identified as being "primitive" – primeval even with an emphasis on the 'evil' syllable. So, we are all left to wonder about what/who is in fact "evil" in all this – if we dare to go there.