JOBS NEWS: Organisations are strengthening their offerings outside of the cities as they scramble to meet high demand in the midst of a labour shortage.
As the regions repair after devastating flood events, one community amenity that is often overlooked is public recreational and leisure spaces. The NSW and ACT Parks and Leisure Region Council says it’s more important than ever to deliver usable public parks that can reconnect the community and provide alleviation to the stress and trauma of the years’ flood events.
The council is part of the national public service organisation that keeps our country’s public outdoor recreational areas attractive and resilient.
To strengthen its regional capabilities, two new regional members have joined the organisation from Lismore in Tony Duffy, and Dubbo, in Ian McAlister.
Heather Nesbitt, who was re-elected for her second year in the role of president, says the roles are testament to the fact that the regions are in dire need of resiliency investment in the face of climate change.
Both Dubbo and Lismore have been hit by multiple devastating flooding events in the past year, and there is currently a flood alert in place for the east coast as the entire region braces for the third major flood event of the year.
Nesbitt said the regions are in dire need of “resilience funding for areas including flooding, urban heat, bushfires”, as costs are “increasing enormously and making it hard to deliver on expectations”.
The organisation is currently working on the Lismore Legacy Project, to support Lismore City Council to “build back better” public areas to create a new and more resilient masterplan for the community.
These public spaces need to be made more resilient, she says. And as we move into post-Covid, there’s a huge demand for parks and leisure where people can connect and be healthy.
“It’s important for the community and to get things back to a ‘new normal’ and be usable and create social connection, healing and recovery.”
She said the organisation is currently facing a lot of demand for its services, but there are “significant vacancies” due to labour shortages.
Planning needs more sustainability pros
The planning industry is also facing shortages in skilled talent, as it pivots towards a more sustainable focus for master planned communities and the suburbs.
The Sustainable Subdivisions Framework (SSF) trial, led by CASBE, is a response to the need that the organisation saw to influence the sustainability of subdivisions.
The trial kicked off in 2020 and is still underway with 31 councils participating in the trial to to understand the impact of using the SSF for the assessment of subdivision applications.
Although the majority of Australians live in single dwellings, there is limited guidance with incorporating this into planning in a better way and to focus on sustainability.
SSF provides statutory planners with a framework for measuring and achieving stronger sustainability outcomes in residential subdivisions, while also providing information on how sustainability interventions can be integrated into residential subdivisions.
It’s across seven areas: site layout and liveability, streets, energy, ecology, water management, urban heat and the circular economy.
To strengthen its capabilities in delivering the trial, senior sustainable urban planning and design professional Simon Blackwell has joined the Goulburn Murray Climate Alliance to strengthen its work as an ESD planning advisor.
The new role will see him working with eight Victorian councils (remotely from WA) to roll out the final phase of SSF trial.
He’s an educator for advocacy and education consultancy Green Gurus, has previously worked as a senior urban planner and designer at Taylor Burrell Barnett for almost a decade, and at design service Cardno before that.
He says the goal is for planners to lead the evolution of the urban development industry towards a more ecologically conscious future.
Towards this aim, he says, the industry sorely needs to upskill.
“The industry in general could benefit from raising the level of general knowledge and expertise about sustainability and how it relates to what’s on the ground.
“What seems obvious to me is the great potential of the planning profession to lead the conversation and ‘conduct the orchestra’ of sustainable built environment professionals – is certainly not reflected in the training, skills, position descriptions and roles of most planners in Australia.”
Other appointments…
Janine Strachan, founder of Green Design Solutions and Tiny House Solutions and president at Australian Tiny House Association has been named the incoming chief executive of the Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand, the official representative of the insulation industry in Australia and New Zealand.
Senior facilities management professional Selva Thiru has started as a senior engineering manager at Knight Frank Australia after moving from Mirvac where he was a senior facility manager. He also has experience at JLL, AMP Capital and CBRE.He will be working on the Victoria Police Centre leading the operations team across a 100,000 square metre site in Docklands, undertaking engineering, sustainability, operations and risk management for the asset.