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Social Impact Assessments

Social impact assessments allow councils and other organisations to identify and assess social changes that may occur as a result of planned development (positive and negative). They also investigate how people and communities may be affected and whether such impacts can be mitigated or enhanced.

URPS has prepared social impact assessments for the Seaford and Moana area, and Aldinga and Sellicks Beach. The City of Onkaparinga initiated these studies in response to the level of planned future growth in population foreshadowed in the draft 30-year Plan for Greater Adelaide, as well as changes in population structure due to ageing and the nature of immigration. The assessments included a review of recent and planned developments, a demographic analysis, an audit/mapping of existing services, investigation of funding opportunities, and a community engagement strategy.

The information gathered will influence a range of Council business, including the creation of flexible Development Plan policy around the location of child-care centres and consulting rooms outside traditional centre or community service facilities zones. It will also influence Council's economic development initiatives by promoting the establishment of social services targeted at the needs of each community.

The Minister for Urban Development & Planning released the Ministerial Mount Barker Urban Growth Development Plan Amendment (DPA) in June 2010 for public consultation. This DPA proposes to rezone approximately 1300 hectares of rural land on the edges of Mt Barker and Nairne for residential and light industrial use.

With the aim of ensuring that its community was well informed and empowered to comment on the Ministerial DPA, the District Council of Mt Barker engaged URPS to run a series of information sessions for the local community. These six sessions were extremely well attended, with more than 300 people able to hear about and ask questions regarding the Ministerial DPA process and how to go about getting involved in this part of the planning system.

In a letter to the editor of the Mt Barker Courier, Jean Lovell of Nairne said that "Mt Barker Council is to be congratulated for its commitment to proper community consultation" and that URPS was "highly professional and responded in detail to questions in an articulate, honest and informed manner".

This is evidence of the success of these types of community information sessions and the goodwill and engagement that Mt Barker Council has fostered with its community through the process. We also believe that this type of process leads to informed and valuable input from the community to key planning initiatives such as this Ministerial DPA."