Significant strides have been made in planning reform this month with consultation ending on both Phase One of the Planning and Design Code and our first five Ministerial Building Standards for the building sector.

We received 58 submissions on the Code as it relates to the outback and coastal waters and I am grateful to everyone who participated in this important consultation process.

The feedback highlighted the need for policies that made it easier for simple development to take place in the outback and that were easier to interpret. A summary of feedback will be issued in due course and there will be further opportunities for South Australians to have their say on the Code in mid-2019 (Phase Two) and late 2019 (Phase Three).

Importantly, the State Planning Commission has now released a suite of documents that outlines its policy position on the preservation of heritage and character in our neighbourhoods and the design quality of our built environment.

These documents have been published to give the community insight into how these key matters will be addressed in the new planning system - I encourage everyone to take a look at them now on the SA Planning Portal. Please also view my second vlog of the year (above) for more information on how current heritage and character protections will transition to the Code.

The release of the Commission’s policy position on heritage and character comes as the State Parliament makes its Heritage Reform Inquiry Report publicly available via the Parliament of South Australia website.

The State Planning Commission has also released its Strategic Plan 2019-2020 which outlines it's chief goals, guiding principles, strategies and priorities for the next phase of it's operations.

Amid this rapid pace of change, I would like to acknowledge the emerging talent within our profession that helps drive us in new directions. Specifically I would like to congratulate Rachel Wardle, Design Officer from ODASA, who was recently part of the team who won the Judge’s Choice Award at the first South Australian Smart Seeds Showcase.

This win highlights the importance of elevating the planning profession and enabling the next generation to play a significant role in the future of our state.

Best wishes

Sally Smith
Executive Director, Team PLUS

The new Planning and Design Code is not a mechanical exercise. It is alive, full of issues and ripe with opportunities. This week, we have opened up debate about streets and neighbourhoods with issues – large and small – and some inevitable controversies to engage in and move forward. Together, we have 20 years of sometimes out-of-date policy and sometimes outright confusion to sort out. I encourage you to read the Commission's overview or watch my short video above which provides some background as to why our neighbourhoods are changing and how we are choosing to live differently. On the one hand this is exciting, on the other hand there is apprehension and anxiety as our familiar streets and suburbs adapt and grow. I want to reassure you that we have time over the next 15 months to put a stable, transparent system in place - a system that we can all be confident of, which is planned with care, with involvement and with a clear eye to the future interests of the state.

A What We Have Heard Report is now available on the Integrated Movement Systems Discussion Paper, which has been one of a series of discussion papers designed to stimulate thought on the policy direction for land use in the new planning system. The report summarises the feedback received on the paper from industry and the community, and addresses transport infrastructure, strategic transport corridors, active travel and car parking. More information on this and other discussion papers is available on the SA Planning Portal.

The Regional Green Microgrids team, from left to right: Con Nikolaou (Adelaide Airport), Lindsay Clift (KPMG), Rachel Wardle (DPTI) and Stephen Elley (GHD).

Last month the first South Australian Smart Seeds Showcase was held in Adelaide with participants from various businesses across Adelaide. The national six-week Smart Seeds program brings young professionals together to generate user-centric solutions to complex infrastructure challenges for the benefit of communities. Participants pitch their solutions to a panel of judges at the showcase, with awards given for judge’s and people’s choice. Rachel Wardle from the Office of Design and Architecture South Australia (ODASA), along with her Regional Green Microgrids team, won the Judge’s Choice Award. Congratulations Rachel (and team) on your great work!

In early March the State Planning Commission hosted a forum on the future direction of tertiary education in planning in South Australia. Attended by senior representatives of each of the three South Australian universities as well as the Planning Institute of Australia, the forum examined a range of issues facing the sector, including the closure of locally-based undergraduate planning courses. As a result of the forum, a cross-industry working group was appointed to lead a coordinated effort to secure the future of the planning profession in the state, with the support of the Commission.