The NSW President of the Planning Institute of Australia, David Ryan, has welcomed the release by the NSW government of its new Metropolitan Strategy, “A Plan for Growing Sydney”.
“Strategic planning to accommodate Sydney’s rapid growth and change has been sadly adrift for some time” said Mr Ryan, “and it is important that a clear strategy to respond to and direct that growth is established to restore community and commercial confidence in Sydney’s planning.”
“The new Plan appears to address most of the important issues, including linking housing and employment in accessible locations, having a strong focus on Sydney’s west, recognising the pivotal roles of Parramatta and Badgery’s Creek Airport, whilst emphasising the environment through initiatives such as the “green grid” of connected open spaces and corridors” said Mr Ryan.
“The Institute noted that there have been many plans for Sydney that have fallen well short of their expectations due to poor implementation. The new Plan appears to recognise this and describes mechanisms, including the proposed Sydney Growth Commission, to drive and coordinate its implementation.”
“Appropriately, a planning strategy for Sydney will be broad brush, which leaves much of the detail and the “heavy lifting” on its implementation to other planning documents, called Subregional Strategies and Local Environmental Plans. It is often at this stage that past Metropolitan Strategies have lost their way. This is because some critical planning decisions, such as in what suburbs and what streets higher density housing should be located, are often highly contentious and politically difficult. It will be extremely important therefore for the Sydney Growth Commission to bring Councils and local communities with it when formulating and directing these ‘lower order’ plans.”
“The Institute continues to stress the importance of coordinating transport and other essential infrastructure (including schools, hospitals etc) with housing growth in established and new urban areas. The details on infrastructure planning and delivery are contained in other government documents, the Long Term Transport Master Plan and the State Infrastructure Strategy. It is important therefore to ensure that there is strong ‘whole of government’ commitment to coordinating the new Metropolitan Plan with these Infrastructure Plans, as this is another aspect that has badly let down Sydney’s planning in the past.”
“The Institute looks forward to further discussions with the Minister for Planning and her Department in this next exciting chapter in Sydney’s planning and development.”