When I walk around my neighbourhood, I am struck by the beautiful character of the houses here: the draughty Queenslanders and timber fences, the majestic external staircases, I could go on forever. But something always felt off, and I finally realise what it is. How can I admire a house with elegant stilts and sweeping verandahs when there is a bright red 2019 Ford Puma sitting in the driveway? Or appreciate a compact, postwar masterpiece when it has a Hilux poking out around the side? In the hours I’ve spent positioning myself on the street so I can bathe in the heritage of my neighbourhood, I have not found an angle without some such monstrosity in my field of view.
We’ve spent years fighting the vandals who want to destroy the heritage of our neighbourhood. Why should we make an exception for this? I see no other option: we must forbid residents from bringing any new cars into the area. This is already a compromise, as if I had my way we would ban every car newer than the house it is parked in front of. (Of course, some especially old houses would need hitching posts to be reinstalled.)