On the bus for urban growth management

In August, movers and shakers in the future development of Greater Adelaide set off on a two day bus tour investigating matters pertaining to planning and development.

Participants included representatives from the Local Government Association of South Australia (LGASA), the Property Council of Australia (SA Division), the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) and the South Australian Government, with representatives from Mellor Olsson Lawyers.

Through the tour, they were able to enhance their understanding about what works and what doesn’t work in urban growth management.

“The release of the South Australian Government’s 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide and its associated growth targets made it important that council decision makers and key development representatives are across the issues of urban growth and particularly the need for Local Government and the State Government to lead strong growth management partnerships,” said LGASA Executive Director Wendy Campana. “Those of us involved in the future direction and growth of Greater Adelaide need to have a highly developed understanding of leading practice solutions to growth management challenges and the need for strong working relations between councils, development sector leaders and the State Government.”

Wendy Campana said the Study Tour focused on the key challenges associated with implementing the 30 Year Plan.

“We investigated the coordination, delivery and funding of public infrastructure as well as service delivery,” she said. “Identifying the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, including councils, communities, industry and State agencies was also addressed during the tour.”

South Australian Minister for Urban Development and Planning Paul Holloway said strong partnerships between State and Local Government and the development industry are important to ensure Adelaide’s future growth is well planned.

“The long term success of the 30 Year Plan will be driven by our ability to work with the LGA, local councils and other stakeholders to implement objectives,” Minister Holloway said. “This will ensure that within three decades, up to 70 per cent of new metropolitan dwellings will be built within our current urban area.”

Executive Director of UDIA, Terry Walsh said it was important to the future outcomes of the growth of Greater Adelaide that the development tour was undertaken in the early stages of implementing the Plan.

“We gathered a great deal of information on last year’s international fact finding mission,” Terry Walsh said. “It will be interesting to apply the knowledge we gained at the local level, involving all levels of government and the developers.”

This tour took participants across the council boundaries of Salisbury, Playford, Campbelltown and Mount Barker, then on to Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield.

It also included onsite inspections of planned growth areas, as well as ‘in venue’ sessions led by representatives from councils, the Department of Planning and Local Government, the Land Management Corporation, Delfin Lend Lease, the Hickinbotham Group, Lanser Communities,
AV Jennings, Urban Construct and the Walker Corporation.