At one extreme master planned 'communities' can be soulless,sterile suburbs. The danger at the other extreme is social engineering. The question I have is can a city with character and soul be created without community input?

I went down to the Caloundra South display centre yesterday and spent a few hours with a friend discussing the possiblities and problems.  More >>

By Catherine Pickham. Sustainable transport improves our health and quality of life as well as minimising our impact on the environment. It improves our quality of life by reducing congestion and traffic noise, improving air quality and creating spaces for social interaction. So why don’t more of us utilise these options? More >>

How far is it to the edge?  At some point business and community is going to clash if one keeps pushing the other. More >>

People with disabilities should be able to join in mainstream society, have fun and enjoy cultural activities like anyone else. More >>

Carbon reduction and keep all the mod cons?  It's really just about spreading the word..... More >>

We've been to Hel(met) and back in the last week!   The rights and wrongs of wearing bicycle helmets have been passionately discussed in the paper (mostly online) and on radio over the last couple of weeks.  Fact is it is illegal not to.   More >>

And perhaps rightly so.  Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) asked whether the day, 11 July WAS in truth, a day to celebrate.   Amongst its aims this group is promoting urban and rural lifestyles and practices that are in harmony with the realities of the Australian environment, its resource base and its biodiversity.  Very Us, huh? More >>

Mental ill health and particularly suicide takes such a terrible toll on families, friends and society it is difficult to understand how support for those suffering is largely left up to families and communities through voluntary support organisations.  I say ‘largely’ because it is true there are government programs and social enterprises such as religious organisations and a variety of (under) funded organisations, staffed by poorly paid support workers, who do their best for people in need. More >>

The one thing population growth has going for it is employment, albeit short term, cyclical, relatively unimaginative, relatively unsafe, deadline and profit driven, generally without a career path unless you belong to one of the few large construction companies and it doesn’t employ a lot of women. More >>