A survey commissioned last year by the New South Wales Department of Local Government found that planning was the greatest area of skills shortage among Councils. The report was compiled by a working group chaired by the Department. It included 14 members representing stakeholder groups, educators, Local Government, private industry and the New South Wales Government.
It contains 21 recommendations to help the planning profession, including:
- better promotion of the profession to attract high school leavers into planning, including a website and media placement of stories
- advising training providers to include a greater focus on personal and communications skills to help planners deal with public meetings and difficult clients
- new training courses to allow clerical or other office staff to become ‘planning assistants’ who undertake more basic planning tasks
- support for the concept of a ‘flying squad’ of planners, organised by the NSW Government, to relieve bottlenecks in decision making
- supporting a Minister’s award for planning excellence
- continuing existing New South Wales Government funded planner scholarships and encourage the private sector to develop planning cadetships
- promoting and implementing joint State/Local Government teams to assess development proposals.
Director General of the New South Wales Department of Planning, Sam Haddad, said the Department was already undertaking some of the recommendations, including committing to providing scholarships with a specific planning focus to Local Government.
“Eleven Councils have received funding under an innovative New South Wales Government scheme designed to address the skills shortage confronting Local Government,” he said. “The New South Wales Department of Local Government and Department of Planning will provide funding of $2,500 to each of the 11 Councils, with the municipalities required to at least match the funding.”
Using the grants, Councils will establish scholarship programs designed to support students seeking Local Government professions.
Sam Haddad said five of the 11 Councils will use the funding to award scholarships for planners, while the other six Councils will award scholarships for students studying in areas such as business administration, engineering and information technology.
“Planning can be an incredibly exciting and interesting career, where people have the opportunity to help guide the future of localities, towns and even entire regions,” Sam Haddad said. “People with a wide range of backgrounds, including engineering, environmental science and economics, often have the skills to become planning professionals.”
The 11 Councils were selected from 27 Councils who submitted applications for the grants. Councils are able to determine the number of scholarships they wish to offer students using the funding.
