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Mitchell Park

Urban renewal projects represent significant investments for a range of government agencies, local councils and community organisations. Funding agencies must therefore have confidence that their limited funds are being used in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

Public housing in Mitchell Park was once affected by asset management problems such as declining values, increasing maintenance costs, and high vacancy rates. The area has also been subject to social challenges relating to crime, security issues, and tenancy management, including low demand for housing, high turnover of tenants, and vandalism.

In 1986 the urban renewal process in Mitchell Park commenced. The project evolved from a process of simply demolishing obsolete stock and replacing it with new housing to a project aimed at regenerating the area to provide a desirable choice of housing in a quality social and physical environment. The project was completed in 2005.

URPS, in association with Truscott Research and Peter Rossini (UniSA), undertook a comprehensive evaluation of the project on behalf of Housing SA and the City of Marion. The evaluation involved the establishment of indicators to determine the social, physical and financial changes in the area. Methods used to inform the indicators included a community perception survey and schools survey; a focus group discussion; analysis of ABS data; and analysis of other data, including policing, traffic, Valuer-General and property data. Surveying school students was also an important part of the evaluation methodology used by URPS as young people are often under-represented in community engagement.

Innovation is important to us at URPS. We like to 'push boundaries’ where appropriate. It keeps us on our toes and delivers the best possible outcomes for our clients who have to adapt to constant change. This is why we take such pride in winning PIA Awards – they provide evidence of our success in striving for innovation.

We were delighted to receive a commendation at the PIA SA 2011 Awards for Planning Excellence for the Mount Barker Town Centre Community Engagement Project – our 15th PIA Award/Commendation over the past 9 years.

A genuinely collaborative project, staff from Mount Barker Council worked closely with the URPS team to deliver a range of engagement techniques carefully targeted to the various audiences. According to the awards publication, "the judges were impressed by the extent of the community engagement process and the use of a wide variety of consultation mediums, including social media, a youth ‘walk out and talk out’ session and a series of 'speak out’ sessions".

We were also delighted to celebrate Marcus Rolfe's elevation to the position of Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia at the Awards evening. The elevation recognises Marcus' ongoing contribution to the planning profession.

URPS Director Nicole Halsey has recently been appointed as a member of the Premier's Climate Change Council and the Board of Renewables SA.

The primary function of the Climate Change Council is to provide independent advice to the Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change about matters related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The Council also takes a leading role in consulting with business, the environment / conservation sector and the wider community on climate change issues.

Key elements of the charter of Renewables SA include:

We look forward to supporting Nicole in these significant roles.

URPS and Natalie Fuller and Associates, together with a team of dedicated staff and volunteers at the City of Salisbury, recently held a "Street Talk" event outside the Len Beadell library for the Salisbury Town Centre Renewal Project.

Over 500 people participated, providing their views on what they like about the Town Centre, what can be improved and how they would like to see it develop in the future.

The Manager Urban Development at the City of Salisbury, Harry Pitrans, described this as a "very successful day for the City of Salisbury", also praising "the opportunity we provided to support the team of engagement volunteers" and our "professionalism and fun during the day".

We would also like to extend our thanks to the engagement team of Brian Pledger, Janine Harding, Jo Lasham, Julie Fyfe, Kate Naumann, Michelle Tucker, Tammie Hamilton and Hiroe Terao.

This type of successful community engagement will have a significant positive impact on the development and delivery of the Town Centre Renewal Project.