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Former MP Clem Newton-Brown, now a planning consultant acting for Mr Lofitis, said under the new CBD planning rules the site would struggle to get a permit for a similar sized building.
The rule changes, introduced a month after the development was approved, require a plot ratio of 18:1, meaning the total floor space of a new development is restricted to 18 times the size of its site.
CBRE's Josh Rutman, appointed to sell the site with colleagues Mark Wizel and Lewis Tong, said the land was expected to fetch more than $40 million.
"After receiving planning approval, the vendor received several private approaches by local and offshore groups, and has subsequently decided to offer the property to the open market," Mr Rutman said.
Since the rule changes, development sites with older planning permits obtained before the changes were introduced have been fetching premium prices.
Another development site with an older permit that was recently touted to buyers was the Celtic Club on Queen Street.
It found a buyer for $25.6 million but the deal was voted down by club members two weeks ago.
Without the permit and a quick sale the site's value would be slashed to about $12 million.
Interesting reading the letters in your paper about ICBC; here is my experience.
In March 2016, I received a speeding ticket. I wrote out a cheque the next day and mailed it to Victoria. April goes by and into May and my cheque has not cleared my bank.
I called ICBC in Victoria and was told that my cheque was received and was date stamped and was placed in a vault. I asked why it hadn’t been cashed; the reply was that there is complete confusion and lack of help in this office and the cheque will be cashed when they get time. The lady went on to say that the office she works in is a complete disaster, not enough help and no one to replace people who leave.
My cheque was finally cashed in July. I wonder how much money is sitting in their vault?
The fact remains, the NDP government have no expertise within its elected members to run an organization like ICBC. They rely on outside management groups to advise them, and I would say what has gone on the past two years, they are getting a lot of bad advice.
Letter writer Wade Gaylard nailed the problem when he stated ICBC could not even make a monopoly work.
The private insurance companies in North America offer competitive products and still make money. Why? Simple logic. They are religious in their control of expenses. Having a hundred different insurance companies watching body-shop charges makes those shops accountable. And legal settlements, the same.
The private-company employees have good solid jobs, not fantastic-paying like our single union-controlled company. In the private world, senior management don’t get bonuses if they lose millions (or billions) of dollars. The example a month ago in this newspaper of motor home insurance in Alberta costing $400 compared to our $1,400 is just one example of incompetence.
Forty-six years of government control is enough. They still don’t get it.
Why is it those opposed to Canada improving our carbon footprint think it would result in us living in mud huts? Why don’t they embrace a future where more and more people living in modern Net Zero homes?
Would such homes cost a bit more to build? Yes. But they would return dividends in the form of energy cost savings for years to come, so ultimately they would be cheaper.
Then we would be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
I am offended by the attitude of the mayors north of the Fraser. They are scolding our mayor, and all the people who voted for him. Where do they get off talking down to us like we are children?
I have an idea. Seeing as people south of the Fraser have paid billions over the past 30 years to develop SkyTrain north of the Fraser, maybe it’s time we got our share. How is it fair that Vancouver will spend close to another $3 billion on a new subway, and south of the Fraser we get $1.65 billion? How about we get the $3 billion and Vancouver can build $1.65 billion worth of a subway?
And a further slap in the face to Surrey and Delta is no tunnel-congestion relief. We have had enough bull from this unelected Mayors’ Council dictating what Surrey, Delta and Langley will get, which is next to nothing compared to what has been, and will be, spent north of the Fraser.
The Philippine Reclamation Authority should prove that the fingerport at the Reclamation Area in Bacolod City that had been reclaimed by the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation is illegal, Renecito Novero, the legal counsel of the BREDCO said yesterday.
PRA should review its records if it believes that the fingerport has no permit from the city and PRA, Novero also said.
He said he believes all reclamation projects included in the contract are authorized, and if there are areas not included in the contract, they (PRA) should prove it, he added.
During a public hearing conducted Tuesday by the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government chaired by Councilor Distrito, the PRA officials had pointed out that the fingerport that had been reclaimed by BREDCO is illegal and has no permit from the city and the PRA.
Diomedes Tan, PRA Implementation and Regulation Department manager, said that, based on their records, BREDCO had an application with them before 2007 to reclaim the fingerport, which is about 8-10 hectares, but no authority had been granted to it, because of lack of required documents.
PRA will give BREDCO a final notice to give it a chance to comply with the requirements, he said, and one of these requirements is the consent of the city.
Novero said there must be some aspects of the case that may have not yet come to their knowledge so there is a need for PRA to review all the records. But until yesterday, he said, he has not received any document or notice from the PRA, he said.
However, they will also review all pertinent records if that is called for since all issues call for records, Novero said. So far they have not received any notice from the PRA concerning any violation, he said.
Authored by Councilor Catalino Alisbo, the resolution said the CENECO management, in its statement of account billing to all customers, is charging system loss charge on general and transmission revenue and value added tax on government revenue.
It said the ERC is mandated to enforce R.A.7832 to refund consumers the amount paid on over-recoveries of system loss payment under Purchased Power Adjustment as mandated by the law.
FOR nearly two decades Peter and Jane Middlebrook have called “Strathdrummond” on the outskirts of Finley home. Primarily dairy farmers, the Middlebrooks also grow lucerne and corn, mainly to feed stock. While no strangers to overcoming adversity on the land, the combination of the drought plus exorbitant water and feed prices are taking a toll. Without water, farmers are struggling and the flow-on effects of that struggle are being felt throughout the tight-knit community. With no water and dwindling finances, Mr Middlebrook said he knew of at least six farms that had been forced to go on the market in the last six months. Mr Middlebrook said he also was not immune and was recently forced to borrow $500,000, with the bulk of that already spent on water for irrigation and food for stock. “We have got some good farmers in the area that are having a real crack but they haven’t got any equity left and that’s the problem,” Mr Middlebrook said. “The banks said no more. “A lot of farmers had to sell their water to keep going and the bank gave me another $500,000 just to keep going. “Selling your water is the beginning of the end I reckon. “I know of at least six farmers around Finley that have been forced to sell in the last six months. “And I’d say there will be many more if it doesn’t rain.” RELATED: The drought has seen wheat prices skyrocket to almost double the normal price. “You’ve got to feed your cows,” he said. “Normally you’d pay $200-250 a tonne for wheat, at the moment we are paying $450-$480 a tonne and I use 1200 tonne annually. “I also bought $100,000 worth of hay.” Lachlan Marshall, who is also a Finley dairy farmer, has spent $400,000 in the past three months buying water. Mr Middlebrook has also spent a similar amount. "We moved here 17 years ago because of water security and land prices," he said. “Now they have moved the goal posts and to try to explain the water situation is very complicated. “In the last 12 years, particularly since the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we've seen dwindling allocations and water prices jump astronomically. “Then, water on the temporary market was $40 to $80 a megalitre and we saw water allocations of 80 per cent and above. “We rely on irrigation water, I had none, so I had to start buying water. “I’ve spent $320,000 on water and just spent a similar amount buying wheat just to try and get me through. “At the moment we are losing $1000 a day which is not sustainable. “I’m just hoping we can turn it around.” The Middlebrook’s have six employees and 450 cows on their property, 400 of which are milked twice a day. He recently switched to a new supplier, the Shepparton-based Freedom Foods which is looking to expand in the dairy market. “I’m with Freedom Foods in Shepparton which is a good company to deal with,” he said “They are a new company and are expanding and want 500 million litres of milk.” Mr Middlebrook said it wasn’t only farmers who were struggling for survival. Finley's population is about 2000 and agriculture is the main contributor to the economy. But both have taken a hit in the past decade. “Finley is dead and the whole community is feeling the effects of the drought,” he said. “It’s a horrible feeling when you can’t pay your bills and you have to ring your suppliers up and say I can give you a couple of grand that I owe you and hopefully I can give you some more next month. “Local suppliers try to carry you the best they can but they are getting sick of it. “I know one of the milking machine technicians who also delivers the chemicals to dairies is owed $750,000. “There are dairy farmers who get monthly milk cheques for $250,000 and the money is already spent before they get it. “If the dairy industry collapses locally, Finley won’t survive. “A lot of employment relies on the dairy industry, the technicians, electricians, factory employees, suppliers of seed and fertiliser.” Zero water allocations coupled with the exorbitant price of water has forced the Middlebrooks to change their choice of crops. For the past couple of years Mr Middlebrook has chosen to grow corn, lucerne and cotton seed rather than rice. “After the millennium drought we realised we weren’t going to be able to grow summer pasture,” he said.
FOR nearly two decades Peter and Jane Middlebrook have called “Strathdrummond” on the outskirts of Finley home.
Primarily dairy farmers, the Middlebrooks also grow lucerne and corn, mainly to feed stock.
While no strangers to overcoming adversity on the land, the combination of the drought plus exorbitant water and feed prices are taking a toll.
Without water, farmers are struggling and the flow-on effects of that struggle are being felt throughout the tight-knit community.
With no water and dwindling finances, Mr Middlebrook said he knew of at least six farms that had been forced to go on the market in the last six months.
Mr Middlebrook said he also was not immune and was recently forced to borrow $500,000, with the bulk of that already spent on water for irrigation and food for stock.
CLOSE-EYE: Mr Middlebrook keeps a close-eye on his dairy cows.
“We have got some good farmers in the area that are having a real crack but they haven’t got any equity left and that’s the problem,” Mr Middlebrook said.
“The banks said no more.
“A lot of farmers had to sell their water to keep going and the bank gave me another $500,000 just to keep going.
“Selling your water is the beginning of the end I reckon.
“I know of at least six farmers around Finley that have been forced to sell in the last six months.
The drought has seen wheat prices skyrocket to almost double the normal price.
“You’ve got to feed your cows,” he said.
“Normally you’d pay $200-250 a tonne for wheat, at the moment we are paying $450-$480 a tonne and I use 1200 tonne annually.
SILAGE: Mr Middlebrook says his silage pits have become avital source of food for his stock during the drought.
Lachlan Marshall, who is also a Finley dairy farmer, has spent $400,000 in the past three months buying water.
Mr Middlebrook has also spent a similar amount.
"We moved here 17 years ago because of water security and land prices," he said.
“Now they have moved the goal posts and to try to explain the water situation is very complicated.
“In the last 12 years, particularly since the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we've seen dwindling allocations and water prices jump astronomically.
“Then, water on the temporary market was $40 to $80 a megalitre and we saw water allocations of 80 per cent and above.
“We rely on irrigation water, I had none, so I had to start buying water.
“I’ve spent $320,000 on water and just spent a similar amount buying wheat just to try and get me through.
HAY BALES: Hay has been another important food source for Mr Middlebrook's dairy cattle.
“At the moment we are losing $1000 a day which is not sustainable.
The Middlebrook’s have six employees and 450 cows on their property, 400 of which are milked twice a day.
He recently switched to a new supplier, the Shepparton-based Freedom Foods which is looking to expand in the dairy market.
Mr Middlebrook said it wasn’t only farmers who were struggling for survival.
Finley's population is about 2000 and agriculture is the main contributor to the economy. But both have taken a hit in the past decade.
BONE DRY: Mr Middlebrook on his property.
“Finley is dead and the whole community is feeling the effects of the drought,” he said.
“It’s a horrible feeling when you can’t pay your bills and you have to ring your suppliers up and say I can give you a couple of grand that I owe you and hopefully I can give you some more next month.
“Local suppliers try to carry you the best they can but they are getting sick of it.
“I know one of the milking machine technicians who also delivers the chemicals to dairies is owed $750,000.
“There are dairy farmers who get monthly milk cheques for $250,000 and the money is already spent before they get it.
“If the dairy industry collapses locally, Finley won’t survive.
TOP CROP: Mr Middlebrook inspects his corn crop which is not far away from harvest.
Zero water allocations coupled with the exorbitant price of water has forced the Middlebrooks to change their choice of crops.
For the past couple of years Mr Middlebrook has chosen to grow corn, lucerne and cotton seed rather than rice.
“After the millennium drought we realised we weren’t going to be able to grow summer pasture,” he said.
One of the most anticipated movies of the summer comes in the form of Pokemon Detective Pikachu. After the release of a few trailers thus far, Ryan Reynolds shared a new video today on his YouTube channel that introduces the world to all the different Pokemon that fans can expect to see in the new movie.
Pokemon is a worldwide entertainment phenomenon that centers on trainers who have to capture and train little creatures known as Pokemon, each of which has their own unique and individual set of powers. The trainers battle it out to be the greatest Pokemon Trainers in the world in elaborate tournaments. Pokemon Detective Pikachu is a different spin on the stories seen in the franchise over the years. The live-action movie focuses on one specific Pokemon, a mouse-type known as Pikachu, who loses his memory and embarks on a mission to find what happened to the man he knew. Stumbling across the man’s son, who seems to be the only one to hear Pikachu, the two embark on an awesome adventure in a twist of the usual buddy-comedy formula.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu marks the first time that the character of Pikachu speaks, or at least is seen as talking in English.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu is most interesting, and almost entirely being sold to audiences on the back of Ryan Reynolds himself. The star lends his voice to the small creature and thus far has been the one responsible for most of the viral marketing campaign for the film.
The latest teaser, released by Reynolds, features an introduction of the different types of Pokemon that the movie features, along with their names and some relevant information about them. It’s almost similar to a get-to-know-you style opening credits footage set to music. The comedic angle to the video is that it’s portrayed as a casting call, where various Pokemon are seen as “auditioning” for the opportunity to be in the new movie. The teaser also features a lot of new footage spliced with Pikachu himself. The video was released as an announcement that the tickets to the movie are now on sale.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu should be an interesting movie to watch out for, given what it could mean to the industry if the movie performs well. Pokemon is a multi-media franchise that spans various mediums all over the world, so the franchise-potential for Pokemon is incredibly high if Pokemon Detective Pikachu succeeds at the box office.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu releases everywhere on May 10.
One of the multiple candidates running to succeed Rep. Todd Young has given or loaned his campaign more than $685,000.
WASHINGTON — A Republican businessman who registered to vote in Indiana last fall is financially dominating the 9th Congressional District race in south central Indiana, where multiple candidates are hoping to succeed Rep. Todd Young, R-Bloomington.
Trey Hollingsworth, who previously lived in Tennessee, gave or loaned his campaign $685,578 last year, which is nearly all the money he reported raising since entering the race.
In addition, a super PAC (political action committee), which has not revealed its donors, has spent more than $200,000 on ads supporting Hollingsworth and attacking Attorney General Greg Zoeller.
Zoeller and state Sen. Erin Houchin are closely matched in the next fundraising tier of GOP candidates, according to disclosure reports filed Sunday.
Zoeller collected $232,124 and Houchin raised $240,518.
Zoeller’s’ supporters in the last three months of 2015 included former Vice President Dan Quayle, whom Zoeller worked for. Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, each gave Zoeller the maximum allowed contribution of $2,700 for the May 3 primary. Zoeller’s other contributors include Republican National Committee member John Hammond ($2,000), former Marion County prosecutor Carl Brizzi ($1,000), former Rep. Dan Burton ($1,000 from Burton’s former campaign committee), and many state employees.
Houchin received $1,000 or more from the PACs of six GOP women in Congress, including Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., in the last quarter of 2015. Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon gave $1,538 from his campaign fund. A PAC supporting GOP women gave $5,000, as did a PAC advocating for the “principled but pragmatic center” of the party.
Conservative Terre Haute attorney Jim Bopp contributed to Houchin, as did former state GOP chairmen Murray Clark and Jim Kittle.
Hollingsworth, by contrast, received only one contribution greater than $200 from within Indiana. The four other large donors, who gave a combined $7,400, are from Texas and Tennessee.
The donors of amounts of $200 or less don’t have to be identified, but Hollingsworth reported only $355 in small-dollar contributions.
Hollingsworth, who lives in Jeffersonville, owns Hollingsworth Capital Partners, a Tennessee real estate investment company.
Hollingsworth did not respond to an interview request. Instead, his campaign manager said in an email that spending his own money allows Hollingsworth more time to talk to voters instead of donors.
Hollingsworth registered to vote in Clark County in September, according to the clerk's office.
Because of his lack of primary voting history, Hollingsworth had to have the GOP chairman of Clark County sign off on his declaration of candidacy to get on the primary ballot.
"After much consideration, I did make the decision to sign off on him to run to let the voters decide who the best candidate is," said GOP Clark County Chairman Jamey Noel, who is not backing a candidate. Noel said Hollingsworth signed a loyalty pledge to the party, and the purpose of the sign-off rule is to make sure candidates are loyal Republicans.
Those giving to the super PAC supporting Hollingsworth, who can contribute unlimited amounts, don’t have to be identified until the next quarterly filing in April.
The ad the PAC is running calls Zoeller “just another career politician” and calls Hollingsworth “the only conservative outsider” in the race.