Over Dobby’s dead body

NIMBYs have had a hard time of it of late. Once the petty rulers of neighbourhood development, looser planning regulations have seen the tides turn. Crack out the tiny violin. 

Still, there is ongoing debate about how to balance heritage and development. 

The recent reopening of North Sydney pool demonstrated how to preserve the past and make an icon suitable for generations to come. It appears to have been well-received, and it only took five years and so much money, council rates have increased to cover the cost.

Elsewhere, Clover Moore unveiled plans for Town Hall Square. The concepts were decades in the making, which is apparently how long it takes to think of a fountain and some trees. The new public space will see the demolition of eight buildings, including possibly the worst Woolworths in the country, but is unlikely to see the back of endless protestors and aggressive posses of pigeons.

Some heritage is worth keeping, some is best to wave goodbye to. But these debates are at least grounded in some sort of reality, which is more than we can say for the Greenlink undersea cable in the UK.

The $820m infrastructure project ran into planning issues when objections started to flood in about disruption to a precious cultural monument - the grave for Dobby, the fictional house elf in Harry Potter.

It turns out that many fans make the pilgrimage to a Welsh beach to leave stones and socks to mark the death of an elf (which do not exist) during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which is fiction), which - as a reminder - was written by JK Rowling (who is transphobic). 

Etchea Energy actually moved the cable, reckoning that passing close to a Bronze Age burial site was less hassle than dealing with a bunch of obsessive weirdos. Chalk one up for the NIMBYs.