Peter,
I see this development in the light of worldwide dysfunction of governments. Governments represent those who pay into party funds rather than the people who vote for them.
Coal mines in the Hunter Valley, desecration of nature reserves, McDonalds at Tecoma. It is all a part of an insidious process. We need some sort of people power to fight this.
Bodies like Sea Shepherd perhaps?

Some good points mate. Yes. Who will guard the guardians, the Romans asked.

Who will control those who control our country- the rich and powerful hand in hand with government - both robbing Joe Public?

Don't get depressed, guys. We need to fight the bastards.

Hey, go easy with the insults there, Ludwig.

>>Wow Pericles, you’re an old greenie!<<

Less of the "old", if you please.

>>So are you really going sell up and go?<<

Certainly. Mind you, I suspect this particular project might take a while to get off the ground, so I may be around a while yet.

>>Erm…. and go where? Somewhere else in Sydney I presume?<<

Erm... no, the idea is to leave Sydney.

>>You’ve poo-pooed just about everywhere else on the planet, including other Australian cities, which you call (in a derogatory manner) large country towns. And you wouldn’t be seen dead living in my fantastic part of the world up here in north Queensland!<<

I know some perfectly sane people who actually enjoy living in country towns. And I have spent some enjoyable vacation time in your neck of the woods. But I wouldn't live in either, personally.

Paris. Berlin. London. Rome. All have their appeal. But top of the list would be New York, to be honest.

>>I thought that you basically hated government and applauded private enterprise!<<

I do, Ludwig, I do. But that has nothing to do with the wanton destruction of precious urban open space that is at the centre of this particular plan. I live between two small, but highly attractive, parks, complete with trees, birds and possums, and I would hate to see either of them sold off.

I'd be on the plane the same afternoon.

It would be pleasant - and a refreshing change - if some of these people commented on the plan for the Gardens (good, bad, interesting, or awful) instead of capering about like fighting cocks and lunging at each other, a la Anthony Mundine… or more recently, Bob Carr………...

Fair point, Bronte.

>>It would be pleasant - and a refreshing change - if some of these people commented on the plan for the Gardens (good, bad, interesting, or awful)<<

I viewed the video of the Trust's Master Plan with as dispassionate an eye as I could muster. The first thing I noticed was its lack of specificity, so I attempted to track down the plan itself. Unsuccessfully. The closest I got was this message:

"You do not have permission to access the asset"

Not helpful. However, the recurring theme in the video was that there seems to be an awful lot of concreting, with new paths, viewing platforms, promenades... and a ferry terminal

How that is intended to enhance the experience for visitors is unclear. What does shine through is the addition of "amenities" at Mrs Macquaries Chair, which can only be designed to offer further commercial opportunities. Given that the standard of the existing cafe/restaurant installation is little short of appalling, duplicating the experience can only be described as catastrophic for a most one of the most iconic of Sydney's historic sites.

One of the comments I noted was from Patricia Forsythe, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, who observed:

"The Domain and the botanic gardens... fall short on necessary amenities to support the 4 million visitors that visit the park or the 5 million that make use of the Domain."

I don't believe I am reading this incorrectly as code for "a carefully selected number of Sydney business identities could make a motza out of these people, given the apathy of the locals to object to our plans".

Time to man the barricades.