Darwin Horning, MCIP FOCUS

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ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY Regional Growth
Planning in Queensland
Darwin Horning, MCIP FOCUS
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• ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY
• Compare regions and planning issues
• Highlight approaches
• Level of commitment required

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SEQ Regional Plan (2005 2026)
Senior Strategic Planner - Toowoomba
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SEQ Regional Plan - CONTEXT
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SEQ Regional Plan- SEA CHANGE

• 200 km City
• 240 km -Noosa NSW
• Approx. 22, 000 km2
• 18 Local Governments

• 2.5 M people
• Fastest growing metropolitan region
• 1000 people per week
• Green Change
• Bush/Peaks/Paddocks

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SEQ Regional Plan - GROWTH
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SEQ Regional Plan Regional Plans
Livable Regions (Vancouver) 2001 2.0
million 2021 2.7 million 284, 400 ha
SEQRP (Queensland) 2001 2.5 million 2026 4.0
million 2,242,000 ha
Metro 2040 Growth Concept (Portland) 1994 1.2
million 2017 2.0 million 95,911 ha
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Okanagan Valley Pop. 297,601 Area 2,195,430
ha (21,954 km2)
SEQRP 2001 2.5 Million 2026 4.0 Million
2,242,000 ha (22,420 km2)
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SEQ Regional Plan PLAN INCEPTION

• 200 km City
• Amenity Migration
• Environmental
• How to respond

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SEQ Regional Plan VISION

• Why a Regional Plan?
• Maintaining quality of life
• Managing rather than responding to growth
• Creating a more sustainable future

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SEQ Regional Plan GOALS

• Safe, healthy, accessible and inclusive
  communities
• Diverse employment opportunities
• Quality infrastructure services (health /
  education)
• Mutually supportive urban rural areas creating
  community wealth
• Development sustainable / well-designed
  (Subtropical Character of region is
  recognized reinforced)
• Ecologically culturally significant landscapes
  valued / celebrated / protected
• Community has access to a range of quality open
  space recreational opportunities

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SEQ Regional Plan CARING

• CARING FOR THE PLACE WE CALL HOME?
• Protecting forests / coastline / waterways
• Keeping protecting our farmlands
• Being water-wise
• Safeguarding areas of high scenic amenity
• Maintaining biodiversity natural ecosystems
• Retaining open spaces for fun recreation
• Monitoring
• WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE

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SEQ Regional Plan - CITIES TOWNS

• Creating More Compact Cities Towns
• Establish URBAN FOOTPRINT
• Regional Activity Centers (100 ha)
• Setting infill targets
• Developing western corridor
• Inter-urban breaks - maintaining open space
  (ecological-koala bear)
• Consolidating supporting commercial nodes
• Encouraging Subtropic design principles
• Land for future growth
• Establish Over riding Public Need

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SEQ Regional Plan - CITIES TOWNS

• Building Communities - Not Just Houses
• Creating maintaining a sense of identity and
  place
• Ensuring regional centers are more than just
  transit stops (rail connection)
• Protecting cultural and heritage site
• Supporting arts culture
• Better health safety in communities
• Promoting affordable housing
• Addressing disadvantaged

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SEQ REG. PLAN ROBUST ECONOMY
SEQ Regional Plan ROBUST ECONOMY

• Smart State
• Encourage training skills development
• Integrated land use transportation
• Local jobs less travel
• Develop support new industry
• i.e. Global Research Focus
• Funding 7 schools to compete
• internationally

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SEQ Infrastructure Plan 2005 - 2026

• Integrating land use transport
• Infrastructure planned prioritized to
  support regional plan
• Manage demand
• Consider in all new development
• Optimize existing infrastructure
• Develop better transportation links
• Improve promote public transport
• Travel smarter, cheaper cleaner
• Roads are not just for cars

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SEQ Infrastructure Plan - 2005-2026

• Key Infrastructure Plan - 55 b (20 years)
• First 5 years
• 891 m - water
• 3.4 b - energy (green / demand)
• 3.4 b - social community
• 72.5 m transport investigations
• After 5 years
• 11 b road / public transport
• 10 b energy networks

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SEQ Regional Plan WATER

• Water - 891 m Investment
• Invest in new dams weirs
• Upgrade existing Council run dams
• Investigate alternative water supply
• Rainwater tanks (100 year drought)
• Stormwater treatment (state sponsored sustainable
  subdivision housing design)
• Recycled water (grey water residentially)
• Toowoomba drinking water -80 m (CADS)
• Brisbane 18 months
• Groundwater sources (water license)
• R-R-R (education / water restrictions)

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SEQ Regional Plan FOR EVERYONE

• Involving supporting Aboriginal Torres Strait
  Islander Peoples (recognition)
• Involving traditional owners in land decisions
• Recognizing preserving aboriginal heritage
  culture
• Improving delivery of services, housing, and
  employment opportunities
• no policy strategies youth, seniors, other
  cultures

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SEQ Regional Plan CHALLENGES

• Key infrastructure plan - 55 b. (20 years -
  1st in Australia)
• Sugar cane farmers revenue loss
• Limited developable land
• Local government impacts
• Conflict with local planning
• Resource requirements (desired regional outcomes
  reporting 12 )

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SEQ Regional Plan CRITICISMS

• Australian Green Development Forum
• Wasnt sufficiently bold or visionary
• Needed broader strategy of public private
  partnership approaches
• Encourage greater public awareness, engagement
  ownership
• Incorporate greater sustainability principles
  into gov. buildings
• Adopt sustainable procurement policies
• Much more collaboration
• Policies needed to go further

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SEQ Regional Plan
Experience around the world has shown that
population growth cannot be stopped by rules and
regulations. Even slowing growth is a challenge
with many possible consequences. However, we are
able to manage growth in a way that preserves the
essential qualities that make our region such a
special place. Vancouver Livable Regions
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SEQ Regional Plan

• To successfully manage growth there first needs
  to be a widely shared vision for the future and a
  clear understanding of what must be done to
  achieve that vision. Without a vision and a
  strategy for making it happen, the positives of
  growth, such as economic prosperity, diversity
  and improved living standards, can be overwhelmed
  by the negatives of congestion, environmental
  degradation and a lower quality of life.
• Vancouver Livable Regions

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END