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Bridging the Gap between Planning and NRM

The draft 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide prepared by the State Government is one of the most significant strategic planning processes ever undertaken in South Australia. In preparing the plan, a range of complex issues needed to be balanced against community views and aspirations, and the strategic directions for the future growth, prosperity and sustainability of Greater Adelaide.

Planning plays a critical role in managing our natural resources appropriately and mitigating the effects of climate change. For this reason, the Natural Resource Management (NRM) Council and the Premier's Climate Change (PCC) Council engaged URPS to review the draft 30-Year Plan and prepare a joint submission.

The project involved reviewing and evaluating the plan from both the NRM and climate change perspectives. The evaluation process involved cross-referencing the content of the plan with a range of government-endorsed strategies and using expert input to identify alternative policy directions where required.

Significantly, we found that the 30-Year Plan meets the need for a strong strategic foundation to address key environmental issues such as climate change, water security and a more compact urban form to achieve a 'carbon efficient city'. At the same time, there were some areas where it was considered that the 30-Year Plan could go further to achieve better environmental outcomes. Such areas included adapting to sea level rise and the link between water availability and water use by approved development.

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.