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RETAIL STUDIES

URPS has assisted several councils in the preparation of retail studies and Development Plan Amendments (DPAs). Two recent studies and associated DPAs include the City of Salisbury's Neighbourhood Centres Discussion Paper and DPA and the City of Playford's Neighbourhood Centres Study and DPA.

The City of Salisbury study involved the establishment of evaluation criteria for 11 possible neighbourhood centres (NCe) sites and stakeholder consultation about them. The study considered a variety of factors, including retail development trends (e.g. desired location, catchments and centre size); the potential impact of the proposed sites on other centres; the validity of different retail assessment models (e.g. retail gravity model Vs traditional market assessment); an appreciation of the different opinions of retail property owners and retailers (e.g. tenant supermarkets); and traffic management issues.

The study ultimately selected a site that has resulted in a DPA that promotes the establishment of an NCe zone to accommodate a supermarket, speciality shops and bulky goods retailing. The establishment of the new zone is expected to promote greater competition while not substantially affecting the performance of existing district and regional centres.

URPS believes that generally the SA planning system (including the centre hierarchy principles) includes the appropriate framework to delivery COAG competition policies. Notwithstanding this position, the retail planning system should be continually reviewed to promote streamlining of required retail planning investigations and rezoning.

The City of Playford project sought to understand why 'some' of the older neighbourhood centres within the Elizabeth area are no longer performing at peak levels. Reasons include (i) their location on secondary collector roads, (ii) supermarkets that have small footprints by modern standards and therefore cannot provide a wide enough range of product choice, (iii) relatively low household income levels, (iv)changes in consumer shopping trends (e.g. the move away from shopping every three days or so to once a week or a fortnight, (v) dominance of the car, which promotes fewer shopping trips, and (vi) a lack of coordination of property owners who cannot commit to integrated upgrades to their centre. The project's objective was to amend planning policy in a manner that would promote the reuse and revitalisation of the centres (and their locality) by promoting mixed uses, while ensuring some base level of retail and community services are still available within walking distance of homes, particularly in those communities that have a high representation of aged persons, low incomes, and low car ownership.

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.