9 May 2018
The Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy has been honoured twice at the Planning Institute of Australia’s National Awards for Planning Excellence – winning the Best Planning Ideas Large Project Award and the Hard Won Victory Award.
Award judges said the project – led by UrbanGrowth NSW in conjunction with Cox Richardson ConnyBeare Morrison, Oculus, Aecom, Elton Consulting, GHD, Hill PDA, Jacobs, Kinesis and SJB – was put together in testing circumstances. Its success, however, meant it would become a template for similar projects across the Sydney region.
For many years, government agencies have put Parramatta Road corridor planning initiatives in the “too-hard” basket – not surprisingly since it traverses several governance localities.
The award-winning project tackled the issue of differing land-use zones and the multiplicity of governing councils (some with limited financial resources) by embarking on a wide-ranging engagement program.
As well as a memorandum of understanding between the state and local governments, the UrbanGrowth project set up a mayoral forum and embarked on initiatives to foster collaboration and community involvement.
The strategy’s public engagement process – which included pop-up stalls, information sessions, focus groups and extensive advertising – was lauded by judges as innovative, thorough, and original.
Claremont on the Park, a project conceived and implemented by Landcrop, TPG+Place Match and the Town of Claremont Council, has won PIA’s Best Planning Ideas Small Project award.
The project evolved out of the Claremont Town Council’s ambition to deliver quality, sustainable high density living in an older, well-established Perth suburb while simultaneously revitalising an underutilised site incorporating an abandoned goods shed and an aging football oval with contaminated embankments and dilapidated stands.
Claremont on the Park was informed by a lengthy community consultation intended to deepen public commitment to preserving the suburb’s heritage.
Fundamental design principles of balanced and mixed land uses, permeability, and retention of character were used to maximise amenity for residents and the surrounding community.
The judges praised Claremont on the Park for making a significant contribution to addressing the local council’s infill housing targets in an area which has historically resisted large-scale redevelopment.
PIA’s Awards recognise leading practice, leadership and achievement in planning and the planning profession, and are spread across 12 different categories.
ENDS