Quality housing needed, not quantity

I love living on the Peninsula.

I moved here over 10 years ago so my children could grow up near the beach.

Back then I may have been a little naive about the development of the area, though now its obvious "the character of the area is changing" and at a rapid rate.

I moved to this area to have a lifestyle the western suburbs could not provide and that is open space, a beach surrounded by National Parks.

I left an ordinary house on an ordinary block of land in exchange for a house that is only minutes walk to the beach.

Back then prices were quite comparable with the western suburbs so it was an easy exchange financially.

Now open space and having a backyard is now becoming a thing of the past.

New villas with large concrete driveways and small paved courtyards leaves no play areas for the kids.

This means no room for a swing set or cubby house and no room for a dog.

It could well be that soon like inner parts of Sydney, you have to take your children to the park as you have no yard for them to play in (and you can't view them while you have your breakfast or cup of coffee).

With investors spending large amounts of money on development, the population is increasing but not the infrastructure.

Don't kid yourself that there will be plenty of jobs on the Peninsula. There are no areas for large or small industry to expand.

The shops that are on the Peninsula work to a budget and large staffing is a thing of the past with new technology and computerised systems, businesses can cut down the number of staff needed to operate effectively.

My opinion is let's have quality housing not quantity.

It may be nice having all these "new" units on the Peninsula but it's tripling the population and the amount of cars that are used by these people.

These units may well be nice now. But then think of 20 years' time, we could have slums.

With the backyard granny flat demolished, these occupants will have to move somewhere and into the villas will be the only place to go with the rent to be subsidised by the Government.

These villas will run down and some may even become ghettos.

Imagine living so close to your neighbour with only a wall dividing you.

Then with their kids using your common driveway as their play area, and the teenagers next door coming and going at all hours of the day and night or their music playing too loud or their cars skidding up and down the stamped concrete in front of your door.

I say stop mass development let's have one house per block of land, then the area will become more prestigious with only quality houses being built by people who chose to live in the area.

Owners who chose to live here will have the money to spend in the area.

Properties will increase in price and the Peninsula will be a sought-after area boasting a quality lifestyle. You just have to look at Pearl Beach land prices to see that area has the right approach to development - quality not quantity.

Lyn Whyte, Umina