The City of Whittlesea is now entering an exciting and challenging phase of growth. With an extensive planning framework in place, Council’s vision for a ‘complete city’ is now taking shape.
With many growth area councils now in the process of developing Precinct Structure Plans (PSPs) for their communities, Whittlesea can breathe easy having had the foresight to initiate the process in the 1990s, around ten years before strategic planning became a critical issue.
The approval of its Epping North East PSP in June marked the completion of six PSPs for areas in Council’s three major growth areas – South Morang, Mernda and Epping North. As such, Whittlesea is the first of five Melbourne growth area councils to complete its PSPs.
CEO, David Turnbull, said PSPs are master plans for communities of between 10,000 and 60,000 people that provide certainty of desired outcomes.
“We are not just interested in creating housing estates,” he said. “Our PSPs are designed to create vibrant and sustainable communities. They not only look at where housing will go, but lay out roads, shopping centres, community facilities, schools, parks, housing, employment and connections to transport and community services.”
Substantial time and resources were invested ahead of any development, avoiding problems traditionally associated with doing the plans simultaneously to or after development.
“By creating the plans early, we have taken control of our own destiny and planned 30 years worth of growth for both residential and employment areas. We know where we are heading, where we will finish, how much it will cost and the funding gap. This further assists Council to undertake its long term financial planning as well as advocacy for important community infrastructure with confidence and certainty.”
David Turnbull said developers also have certainty about the rules.
“This has created a competitive market and has also lifted the bar in terms of quality developments,” he said. “For example, the Aurora development in Epping North is one of the largest in Australia, with approximately 8,000 homes to accommodate 25,000 people. It has set the benchmark for other developments with its six star energy rating and environmentally sustainable initiatives.
Currently there are 23 active development fronts in the City, which will ultimately create increased diversity by providing a range of different dwelling types.”
He said it took Council 11 years and $3 million to complete its strategic plans, which will ultimately affect 120,000 people and 35,000 jobs.
“With a strong focus on inhouse development and the involvement of community and staff from areas throughout Council, we have been recognised in the development and Local Government sectors for producing exceptional quality plans,” he said.
“When you consider the hundreds of millions of dollars of private and government investment that will be made in each growth area in terms of roads, infrastructure, services, housing and so forth, it is time and money very well spent. Once the plans are implemented and the infrastructure is built, the results of our planning will be there for many years.
“You only have one chance to get it right we must therefore do it properly the first time, that is the challenge!”
David Turnbull said in creating the plans, Council is ensuring it is building complete self contained communities.
“We are giving our residents the option to work, shop, recreate and go to school, all within the municipality if they wish,” he said. “We are developing quality of life, and in doing so, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging people to do more things locally, and eventually reducing or eliminating car trips.”
By preparing all of its plans inhouse, Council has engendered job satisfaction and the retention of high demand knowledge within the organisation.
“Our planners want to lead projects and have the opportunity to work on them from conception through to completion and reality,” he said. “They also have more local and in depth knowledge about growth areas than consultants, so the choice to prepare the plans inhouse was an obvious one.”
