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Westwood Project Evaluation

Prior to 1999, "The Parks" area in Adelaide's north-western suburbs was dominated by low levels of urban amenity, physical infrastructure in urgent need of upgrade and dated housing that poorly matched resident needs. There was an imbalance in the relative proportion of home owners, private renters and public housing tenants, and the community was disadvantaged when measured by key socio-economic indicators.

In response, the South Australian Housing Trust, developers Urban Pacific Limited, and the Cities of Port Adelaide Enfield and Charles Sturt agreed upon some ambitious objectives to renew the area.

In 2010, is it clear that "The Parks", now known as Westwood, is a very different place evident in the leafy streets/parks and new and upgraded housing. What is less clear is the extent to which the project has delivered on its original objectives. The Westwood Evaluation Project sought to understand this, as well as key success stories and lessons learnt.

Through a combination of market research data, statistical analysis and detailed stakeholder interviews to understand the effectiveness of project governance, URPS provided an informed and independent assessment of the project's impact. Our considerable development assessment experience also assisted in our professional review of the urban design outcomes in the area.

The Westwood Project Evaluation has provided much more than project accountability – it has provided clarity about the successes and limitations of the project, which can now be confidently built upon in other urban renewal activities.

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.