Matthew Ridgeway, Sale
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
THE city is getting bigger, and our communities are getting smaller.
The region supplies the city with essential products vital for living in Australia, yet in our towns I see shops closing, and people struggling to find work.
Our local politicians have an invitation to act on this matter as they pass shop after shop with ‘for lease’ signs posted on them.
Then when you look at the prices for leases, well, for instance, in Sale, the asking prices are city prices.
There is something seriously wrong here, and rental homes are just as expensive as in Pakenham.
Our towns are not cities, and they do not attract city prices for goods and services.
The local investors are pricing themselves into loss, and the towns are suffering because of it.
Adding to this, people aged over 50 without employment in say, Melbourne, are looking for alternatives to renting in expensive cities.
So there is a surge in towns like Sale.
It is not a signal to put rents up – it is a signal that your vacant investment property may have an opportunity to be filled and to retain some value.
I am sick of seeing opportunities lost in the regional areas in Australia.
We need to really think about the distribution of wealth and lifestyle choices across the states and nation.
Also, what on earth are politicians doing about it?
Voting patterns need to change if politicians don’t get off their backsides and encourage manufacturing and businesses to their regions.
I live in Sale – been here a year.
It is a fantastic place to live.
Compared with Pakenham, it is paradise.
But paradise can be lost if we don’t pull our heads in, forget about greed and work on sustainable ways forward, financially, economically, environmentally and locally.
We can do it, I am certain, but short term greed is long term loss.
Trust me on that.
