Friday 29 February 2008

Shitty Waters

This disgusting 250+ apartment complex at Woree, with convenient Service Station plonked in the middle of the property, is a perfectly designed ghetto, circa 2010.

GlenCorp have recently installed some finishing touches, including a new sign. This is made up of a stock image they stole from the Daintree Image and Tourist Library, along with two Frangipani flowers and a Times Roman typeface title. Udo's 3 year old must have put this logo together with crayons at kindergarten last month. I bet he's got the original stuck on his fridge door at home.

The cheek to call this "City Waters", when the previous waterway that existed on the former caravan and camping site now has around 200 ton of concrete on top of it!

The only resemblance to its name will be when the internal pathways flood.

Soon there'll be 250+ families, couples and former councillors living in this ghetto, with no natural airflow, highly dependant on air cons. What were they thinking when they approved this social experiment? I know, they were thinking that it was only a few weeks till they build the same one at Clifton Beach!

Bestowing the title "planner" on some Council staff is an insult to the English language, let alone themselves.

Shitty Waters indeed.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where are the play areas for young children? The developers are so hungry for money, they ignore the basic and RIGHTFUL needs of children, the right for an exercise area. Young couples can only afford to buy these GROSSLY over-priced chicken coops, so many children will be forced to live in them. Oh, the developers will put in a "swimming pool" and "bar'b'que" area complete with hundreds of metres of concrete, yet they overlook the basic needs of children. And what has the City Council done? FUCK ALL!!

Anonymous said...

Jesus H. Christ, it looks like the "house of horrors"! How about the one Hedley built next to Parramatta State School? (I call it WORMWOOD). It bears a pretty grim resemblance to some of London's infamous old "workhouses".
And what about the slumyards at Redlynch? The one with a RAILWAY LINE running right smack in the middle of them. How many little kids will end up cut in half over the next few years?
Michael, you need to run a "competition" on this blog, putting up some of the developers monstrosities, and asking readers to name them.
I hereby name the Hedley Parramatta Park monstrosity, "SWAMPWORM PRISON HOUSE"
No-one steal it!!!
PS Michael, you can supply the prize for the winner!

Anonymous said...

ROFL, so we have three:-

SHITTY WATERS at Woree
SWAMPWORM HOUSE at Parramatta Park

RAILTRAK CHICKEN BRONX at Redlynch ??

Keep going....

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine suggested you just might be able to see the water if you stood on the roof

Anonymous said...

Here are some more suggestions:
The Double Droolin Dollar Dump
The Swingless Cat-hole
Sweatbox Palace
Dengue Dumpments
Shaks by the Traks
The Mouse House

Sheeesh, this could get very creative.

Anonymous said...

The one at Clifton Beach, on Deadmans Creek could be called:

Deadmans Coffin

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Rob Pyne in todays Cairns Post we now see Council is planning to turn the old Drive-in sight at Woree into more of the same unit multiplex as Shitty Waters, only bigger. YAH!!

Used to be DRIVE-IN MOVIES now I have renamed it and it shall be known from this day forth as DRIVE-BY(shooting)MEADOWS.

Wasn't that supposed to be a backpacker accomodation village?

Anonymous said...

If you stand out on your balcony at Shitty Waters with a nice "fresh" south-eastly blowing you might be lucky enough to catch some of the city poos, sorry, I mean city views from your balcony.

Anonymous said...

Generation Y has no choice but to live here and WE DONT CARE.

All we want are 4 walls and a roof to keep the Playstation/Xbox/Plasma screen dry.

It's you baby boomers living on 800m2 alotments with 70/80/90's homes, enjoying both the inflated prices and your parent's inheritence that are whinging.

That god the developers understand and care about us.

You lot have priced us right out of the market.

Anonymous said...

that BP servo has an LPG tank on its site. How can such a resdiential development be legal. I know through experience that in NSW at least such a situation would be illegal. How can all those people being living so close to an LPG tank, is this is legal in Queensland? Are residents allowed to smoke at the complex?
Factman, aka kbcumbreath - you such a f**king dikwad!

Anonymous said...

Factman you are right, us generation Y's cant afford to get into the market thank god for hotboxes like these.... Now if only I could afford to pay the electricity bill I could get my aircon back on 24/7 and cool down a bit....

Anonymous said...

I passed Shitty Waters this morning, while driving two dear little old ladies home (from Church.) "Ohhh dear," said one little old sweetheart, "Isn't that just a dreadful building. I pity the poor young people who have to live in that!"
"Yes", said the other one, "and where are the play areas for the kiddies? Don't these builders think about the little kiddies?"
(Both ladies were 75 plus).

I didn't say anything.......

Anonymous said...

Though Factman does not convey himself wonderfully here, there is logic in what he is trying to say (whether it be fishing for self-amusement or not). Finding the balance between affordable housing and optimal urban design is one of the hardest contemporary challenges facing planners in our beautiful corner of the world.

Often, many (vocal) members of the public can be shortsighted when considering provisions for "affordable housing". NIMBY (Not-in-my-backyard) syndrome is common, where we all, myself included, tell ourselves we agree with providing cheaper and diverse housing options... but that such housing should be located in what WE deem suitable areas. Translation - more intense development belongs in the 'M-suburbs', Parramatta Park etc. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Our flaws aside however, making provisions for affordable housing is not (ever) a justification for poor planning and urban design!
AMCORD and New Urbanism are too often the concepts used by developers and planners alike to hang their hats on. The issue here is that very few developers actually understand these concepts nor the principles they are based on (we won't touch there effectiveness in the tropics here!).

Factman, the reason the community reacts with such passion to the construction of these dwellings is symbolic of a greater concern. That is, not simply a fear that the character of places they value is being lost. But moreover, that as comments like yours further demonstrate, the people charged with the responsibility of ensuring the things valued about our city are preserved and enhanced, have an alarming level of disinterest in exactly that. The thought that such transgression will continue into the future is where I believe the real concern lies!

Apologies for the essay.

Anonymous said...

Rumour is that Udo has sold 80 per cent of these units to the housing department for public housing.
Instant slum.
Too bad for the other 20 per cent of investors who bought off the plan and will now see their property prices plummet.

Anonymous said...

I also heard that the Department of Housing bought a lot of units in "Shitty Waters" aka "Sweatbox Palace", ditto "Swampworm Flats" at Parramatta. Can anyone confirm?

Anonymous said...

factman, aka kbcumbreath, u r such a f**kingh dikwad!!! Really u r!

Anonymous said...

Stop calling it shitty waters guys we live here and i like the ambience.

Anonymous said...

You will rue you said that with the first power outage in summer.

Johnno said...

What is so shitty about shitty waters is the shitty managers who are so up themselves and if you don't rent from them they don't give a shit about you. We moved out last week and feel great relief at not having to deal with their crap. We love our new home at Cairns One.

localcop said...

mates at the station have joked about shitty waters woree for the last year cause of the number of incidents we get called there all the time theft, break & enter, DV, drunks always some sort of trouble

NorthernBeachesWarrior said...

Local Cop - we believe everything you say, and residents of Clifton Beach are already bracing themselves for the same kind of morons moving in to Glencorp's Clifton Beach Views and Clifton Waters.


Same developer, same shitty high density constructiions.

For the past two weeks, Glencorp have been advertising 4 weeks rent free in the Compost to prospective tennants to fill the place.

Thaddeus said...

Nothern Beaches Warrior, are these the units expected to flood in the next wet season? (The ones that Glencorp are going to give free rent to?)

concerned said...

Are these the same Clifton units Factman said that are going to sell very quickly? I do believe, he said, if the places were so bad they wouldn't sell? Hmmmm....Spin more than Fact, I think!

NorthernBeachesWarrior said...

To Concerned and Thaddeus,

Yes, these are the same very flood exposed blocks of units that were allowed to be built less than 5m from a seasonal creek at Clifton.

No doubt many investors have pulled out thus leaving units for rent only. The place is still very much a construction site and yet Council have allowed Stage I to be occupied.

When you next by pass Shitty Waters on the Northside, have a gander. They are now building Stage 3 in parallel to the other 2 stages less 10m apart from each other, so there will be 3 lines of buildings, all lined up in a row and I am sure that if two people leaned out from their prospective sides, they could touch hands or pass some sugar across.

It is already starting to look like Alcatraz, along with its own moat.

And to think that this area was once a wild life corridor with wallabies and beautiful mature trees lining a natural creek system is a painful memory for many!

Greed, greed and more greed!

As soon as the locusts have fully destroyed this area, they will no doubt move onto greener pastures and other communities will be destroyed just as Clifton and Woree have been.

I heard on the ABC radio this morning that Bob Norman who I think may have be on the board at JCU was saying that they are trying to attract a degree course in "tropical architecture" to JCU in Cairns, and I was thinking, how wonderful this would be, because it seems that the developers and architects here, seem to have no or little idea about what that concept is all about.

Shitty Waters is a shining example of what not to do and yet we see them popping up everywhere in Cairns, as if we were a third world country with little land and millions of people to house!!

concerned said...

I live on the northside and pass by the Clifton development often. Can't believe the layout or size of the place!! However, don't think much of the development (by hedley i think) at the old caravan park at Trinity Beach either. High density housing so far away from the main employment centre at Cairns seems to make little sense to me.

Not particularly sustainable, with the long commute into town. I suppose the new Smithfield town centre will solve that though. Dear God!!

Also pass by the City Waters complex often, what a monstrosity! What are these developers thinking!!.....MONEY!!

Thaddeus said...

Thanks Northern Beaches Warrior. I guess the flood prone ones will be bought by the Qld Govt for "public housing". Shitty Waters of course will become like the slum tenements of London within a few years.

Utedriver said...

Shitty waters woree had another bashing this past sat - should have seen the five police vehicles & forensics out the front at 6 am and the blood at the entrance. This is a dangerous place for families and children to be living.

worriedmumof2 said...

The person that got bashed is the shitty waters caretaker who walks around like a bully intimidating people so he deserves what he got and I am sure he has made plenty of enemies so there will most likely be others back to get some more of him. Can't say I have any sympathy at all for him coz he has pissed off far too many tenants. If you've got kids you better move out of shitty waters ASAP it is NOT safe.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
smee said...

To worriedmumof2, if it was the manager who was bashed it is likely his status as an ex-copper does not work in Qld.

Akira said...

The reason why City Waters Woree aka shitty waters has been turned to shit is because of the way it is managed...or mismanaged by the caretakers. They have broken RTA rules more than once and I am not happy about these people invading my privacy by entering my unit without permission which is an RTA violation. Isn't that the same as being criminals? Tenants should all be changing their locks for safety.

paulmarie30 said...

Can someone please tell me why shitty waters is only cleaned once in a blue moon and why the stairs are left filthy for weeks on end? We are getting tired at looking at the same bird poop every day. Why aren't professional cleaners doing the job? Why isn't anyone inspecting what they do? Can someone also tell me why they are letting all the plants die and don't bother to water them? Such a shame that this place could be decent if someone took care of it properly. Aren't there any owners out there worried about this shitty place? We are moving out as soon as our lease is up. Much better choices elsewhere.

happy camper said...

No idea who all these posts are about regarding City Waters managers because I have been here before the current managers started and I can verify with photo evidence the state of the place before moving in and the state of the place after the current caretakers and believe you me things are 100% better.
I have young children as do many other tenants and we all love the place. Our kids all play happily together in the little playground, the grassy pool area, even around the complex. I have great neighbours, they all are very polite and respectful and keep to themselves.
I've seen a cop car here ONCE, and it was one car, no lights, or drama. I have never seen any blood or violence here (except my son who got a tiny piece of glass in his foot because obviously some tenants/guests can't read the signage that there is no glass in the pool area).
So if you've got a beef about the place your obviously the one with the problem and I'm glad your no longer here because it sounds like you wouldn't have been a nice neighbour or tenant with the filth and rubbish that you are alleging.
The caretakers have always been very nice to me even though I didn't go through them for my tenancy, they are approachable, friendly and very hard working from what I notice every day. So someone has a beef in their bonnet and not too happy about it so they are obviously taking it out on people who in my opinion are doing their job and doing it well as my children and I have always felt safe and that our best interest are being met.

chicoo24 said...

Does anyone know why the on site managers at Shitty Waters are going around asking tenants for a reference? Are they in some kind of trouble? I am very uncomfortable at being asked because damned if you do and damned if you don't. Got nothing particularly nice to say about them but if I don't do what they ask I am worried they will be negative toward me. Help!

Unknown said...

I've been living at City Waters since June 2009 and i have never had anything bad to say about the place. It's ALWAYS kept clean, the pools and grounds are maintained fantasticly, and the onsite managers are the most friendly and approachable managers i've ever dealt with.

There are families and all sorts of other *respectable* people living at city waters. Yes, there have been loud, inconsiderate tenants, but they've been moved on. Also, the airflow is fantastic. EVERY day there's a strong breeze flowing through my apartment (and no, it DOES NOT smell like the sewerage plant!).

Plenty of visitor parking is fantastic - I've never not found a park. I'm going to be living at city waters for a long time - the grounds are fantastic and my rent is at a great price.

As for the managers asking for references, it's probably because petty people are writing petty comments on petty blogs like this, giving them a bad rep - it's only fair that they try to regain some of their reputation which has been spoilt by self rightious idiots with their own agendas. If I was the manager, I'd be contacting my solicitor to help have these slanderous comments removed.

I think that a vast majority of the negative comments left here are by people who never have and never will live at city waters - if you come and look at the place and meet the managers, you'll quickly change tack.

I can see Mike is heavily biased, so I'll be impressed if this comment makes it past moderation.

Shitty Waterson said...

Hey, chicoo24. .

So your self interest is more important than telling the truth?

Bloody typical. And guys like you wonder why things don't get any better.

elysianphoenix said...

Mark,
Kudos to you for sticking up for the place, I've just moved in myself and I've had no trouble from the management whatsoever. Everyone I've met so far are friendly and content people, the complex is always clean and the state of the units are second to none.

worriedmumof2,
If you had bothered to listen to both sides of the story instead of taking the same road as the rest of these bone tops you would know that the caretaker was trying to stop a group of vandals entering the complex and damaging tenants' property. He was doing more than his job requires and all you can say is that he deserved it. I bet you're another one who stigmatises my generation on a daily basis, and to you I say this: Those who criticise my generation forget who raised it!

The rest of you,
I'm not disputing the fact that Glencorp cut corners in the development of these complexes, but that fault does not lie with current management - they're not affiliated with Glencorp. Just in case you all have the mental capacity akin to that of a retarded monkey poking itself in the eye with a spoon, this means that the current managers (the caretakers you love to loathe) are the ones picking up the slack and paying the bills. Unlike the lot of you, they're actually doing something with the place to boost property values so that investors aren't left high and dry again like they were with Glencorp.

Instead of cowering behind your screens and posting on this titanic piece of self-indulgent arse you call a blog, why not put your energies into something constructive? I don't know whether I should be amused or appalled by the fact that none of you have the stones to take action, but you're more than happy to let loose on this circlejerk of a website. Hell, rent out the PCYC Hall, hold hands and sing Kum Bay Ya - perhaps you'll find you all have sadomasochistic tendencies and grow from it.

So my advice to you all is put up or shut up. Grow a pair and put together a proposal to improve the situation instead of following the masses and condemning the place. If you can't do that, I will have no pity for you when your genes are unapologetically weeded out of existance. The world has no place for those who defame without a just cause.

RBT said...

We have only just moved into "city waters" from sydney and I would love to tell all of you negative, no hopers that this complex is the most well kept,secure and safe place i have ever lived! We have moved here with our family and having a 2.5 yrs old i could not ask for more! Clean pools, safe playground,imaculate BBQ areas. We have an amazing unit with airflow to boot, we never use our aircon!!! As for the managers, they are fantastic! Very approachable, honest and efficient!

Yes maybe the development company have cut corners but what the hell has that got to do with the managment! They didn't build this place as i see it they have cleaned this place up and I thank them for giving my family a chance and giving us a safe place to live! WE are PROUD CITY WATERS tennents and if they want a reference they have ours!!!!!

So how about you stop all this bitching and bullying and worry about your own lives, if you don't love living here then move! We don't want your negativity lingering around our stairwells, carports and around our children.......

JKR said...

Nicely said RBT.

I live in one of the Sky Villas at City Waters and I am very happy with it. It is stylish and roomy, with a great entertainment area. It is also very low maintenance and has excellent ventilation.

The complex also has very good facilities: pools, a gym, a children's playground and a large bbq area.

I am similarly happy with the Body Corporate Managers, who are very diligent in performing their duties. I find them very friendly to talk to.

The only complaint I have is about security. Theft is a problem here, and the security of the complex could be better. In saying that, the Body Corporate have installed security cameras and it is hoped that this will be a deterrence.

We also have a strange tenant or two who like to air their dirty laundry in public. No different to other neigbours in suburbia though!

TedB said...

Gee, anyone know why there has been a mass clean up in the last week. Shitty waters was a shitty pig sty last six mths and all of a sudden the place is being scrubbed down spotless. Too late we are moving out. Refuse to renew lease. Can't stand the freaky caretakers. Such gossip mongers. No respect for anyone's privacy. Who knows what the hell they say about my family behind my back.

Blockfivers said...

Never heard such utter rubbish JKR and RBT - cowards. Wonder what favours the managers did for you to write such shit. Maybe you are the drunks causing the disturbances in the middle of the night waking our kids? Security? Just wait till your unit is broken into! Doesn't help when the place is left unattended for a week while managers are in Vanuatu! Safety? What about those tattoo girls who were getting cash from Managers under the table for "cleaning" but ended up stealing from units. All hushed up. Maintenance? Have you seen the crap on the stairs? No wonder people are complaining. You can't call that bitching or airing laundry. These are genuine complaints and every tenant has a right to a clean, safe residence. Great place to live? Just wait till your kids slip down the stairs and break a bone or two, then you might wake up and see something is wrong with this place. We agree with TedB and are moving out too. Good on ya mate for speaking up.

Nissan-Navara said...

Hey TedB I hear what ur saying mate and it is totally true them managers r gossip mongers and they do say stuff about everyone and it is a violation of privacy. Also reckon the comments from Mark, JKR, RBT are probably fakes set up by the managers themselves (either that or managers paid them to say it) as no-one would make those comments if they really lived at shitty waters. We all know how shitty the management is. Most tenants don't say much cause they dont wanna get picked on like ive seen others getting picked on. I reckon managers got serious issues.Nothin honest about em at all mate. Reckon they're bloody shysters.

Guccibabe22 said...

Agree with you TedB & Nissan-Navarra. We all know shitty waters is not being run by competent people. They are only interested in themselves and the money they make. What kind of shit is elysianphoenix and the others on about?I would say he's one of the yobbos that toss cigarette butts into the garden and has drinking parties with his drunk mates. If people are complaining it means there is usually a valid reason. You are not going to make the problems disappear by pretending they are not there. Wonder how RBT would know if caretakers are "honest"? Can't be honest if you enter units illegally while tenants are out; or get people to write fake references for you. We aren't stupid. We can see how desperate these managers are to get people on their side.

StuartWright said...

I live in unit 202 and have been cornered and hounded by caretakers to write damaging statements about another tenant and I stupidly did. I am ashamed of this but at the time I didn't know that the caretakers were bullying the tenant and spreading false rumours about her to get rid of her. The caretakers sound so convincing when they talk critically of other residents. Poor tenant didn't do anything and I heard she moved out because of all the harassment. What a shitty thing to have happen at shitty waters.

Unknown said...

I moved in a month or so ago and I love the place. Until some of the people complaining here have lived in blocks of units in some other cities they will not understand how good they have it here!

Surrounded by loud ethnics, knife fights etc. is not unusual in some other units. This place is paradise!

I think the spoilt slobs who complain about this place and call the apartments boxes need to wake and see life owes them nothing. Most of Europe lives in high density housing, and a damn sight smaller than here.

I see the biggest problem here is some of the slobs who live here. Mommy and daddy site managers shouldn't have to clean up after these spoilt overgrown teenagers. Clean yourself! Clean the stairs yourself, it won't kill you!

Unknown said...

So Mike,
I see it been a while since you first started this post on City Waters.
Do you have an update on the comments of it being a 'ghetto, with no natural airflow, highly dependant on air cons'.
Are these now confirmed facts? I'm interested on an update.