Peter Malinauskas has stymied Jay Weatherill’s urban infill housing dreams. Bravo | Peter Goers

Jay Weatherill’s urban infill fantasy has been stymied by a new Premier planning to go all out instead. Bravo, writes Peter Goers.

We need more housing. Housing development can only go out, up or in-between. None of these are ideal but all are essential.

We keep going up. Apartment living is increasingly popular as our horizon attests. Apartment living ain’t for everyone and it’s not ideal for raising kids.

We used to feel sorry for people who lived in flats but now multistorey living is much desired.

The only difference between a flat and an apartment is washing drying on the balcony.

We’ve certainly built in-between existing housing under a controversial government policy that encouraged suburban infill. Governments favour infill because the infrastructure is already there.

Our housing policy of late has been: If in doubt, subdivide.

The good old quarter-acre block was the foundation of Australian suburban housing but those blocks have been hived off for multiple townhouses all with feature garages. Houses get bigger and yet blocks get smaller and so where do the children play?

Former minister John Rau and ex-[Premier Jay Weatherill. Picture Roger Wyman

The infill policy championed by former premier Jay Weatherill and his deputy, John Rau, was mercifully stymied last week by Premier Peter Malinauskas. Bravo.

The new policy extends the suburban boundaries of Greater Adelaide to create new housing developments in Roseworthy, Gawler, Two Wells, Murray Bridge and Victor Harbor.

We get 61,000 new houses, an enormous new park near Gawler and a new super school. Hopefully there’ll be a lot of community housing involved.

Of course, it’s all infill of a different kind. There are already huge developments at Roseworthy and the suburbs have long since enveloped Gawler.

Murray Bridge is booming and is the most improved place in Australia. Victor Harbor is almost a suburb of Adelaide and will continue to stretch back towards McLaren Vale. Seaford is superb.

Premier Peter Malinauskas with housing minister Nick Champion at Thebarton. Picture: Matt Loxton

Greater Adelaide is already one of the longest cities in the world. It stretches 96km from Gawler to Sellicks Beach and is about to get even longer. Los Angeles stretches only 73km with three times the population.

Transport is our eternal problem.

Gawler and Seaford are serviced by rail but other places are not. Incredibly, we want a space program in SA yet we can’t get a tram to turn right into North Tce and we can’t build a train line to Mount Barker.

Clive Palmer and his Trumpet of Patriots political party wants “fast trains” to new outer suburbs. Tell him he’s dreamin’.

The southern and northern expressways are glorious but they sandwich the continuing disaster of South Rd.

We are desperate for the middle expressway and I hope to live long enough to drive along it. Hopefully we get it before these new developments.

We need to use the land for new developments wisely.

Let’s have bigger blocks. New developments at Roseworthy, Mount Barker and Christies Beach are absurd. They are gutter to gutter. If you sneezed in one house, hats would fly off next door.

The quarter acre block is dead. Long live the quarter-acre block. Bring it back.

But developers will continue to crowd houses.

SA politician Don Hopgood with members of the Monarto Development Commission Newell Platten, John Mant, Tony Richardson and Ray Taylor, discuss plans for the city of Monarto in 1979. Picture: The News

Those same developers are resisting government intervention to increase the size of garages for ubiquitous 4WDs.

We need more community housing.

Countries such as Brazil, Finland, France, South Korea and Cuba have constitutions which guarantee housing for all citizens. We need that here but constitutional change is, sadly, impossible in Australia.

The Housing Trust of SA became Housing SA and has now become the SA Housing Trust. It could do a lot more than just change its name.

Do these new housing developments involve that once noble and invaluable organisation? Can we revive Monarto as a suburb?

Meanwhile we have GARP – the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan – and a brave new world of housing and the world according to GARP.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae shows his support for the Power at Magpies training. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)

HOT/NOT

HOT

Beach Meats at Glenelg – SA’s best butcher shop.

Midnight Diner on Netflix – a superb Japanese “dramady”.

Wind farms are essential and good to look at.

The Sisters of St Joseph – interested and interesting women.

NOT

In urban design the term “placemaking” means fewer carparks

Bloody Collingwood FC has the nerve to wear teal on training shirts.