BLUE MOUNTAINS SUSTAINING THE VISION By Elizabeth Dudley-Bestow Australia
Transcript
BLUE MOUNTAINS SUSTAINING THE VISION
By Elizabeth Dudley-Bestow Australia
Where ? East coast of Australia
Too steep for many roads, or big towns or industrial developments
Ancient infertile, rocky soils
Presenter
Presentation Notes
It has one main through rail and one main through road – The Great Western Highway – their alignments are similar It has 27 towns and villages mostly along the highway So there are special needs of the community regards accessing services and work
You have to love nature 'cos you can't escape it
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Animals – noisy, each your chooks, chew your wires Flowers – hayfever
Extremes of weather
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Risk of bushfires Force community togetherness
27 towns and villages – each special, unique and better than the others.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So things don't change fast - old things can be found and valued - towns with heritage This is Leura town centre with the original 1930’s facades You get very strong town identities and strong sense of community
The Mountains attract people who value:
'The Blue Mountains natural environment Clean air and a healthy lifestyle Strong connected communities The uniqueness of the Blue Mountains The Mountains village character and lifestyle Peace and quiet The right to have a say and be involved'.
Blue Mountains City Council - locals all – wanted to preserve what is special while addressing the issues arising
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Respond to pressure to change.
And the pressure to change is…...
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pressure from without for strip development Billboards, macdonalds, people who see profits in sub-divisions in bushland where bushfires could wipe you out. People who want to build big Sydney-style houses on the cheaper land. Pressure from within to do some thing about what arises from being remote small towns - lack of employment opportunities, lack of secondary education facilities, young people moving away, and impact on the environment.
The visioning process….
Where have we come from and where are we now?
Where are we going?
What kind of Blue Mountains will the people of 2025 appreciate we have passed on to them?
What action shall we take?
How will we know we are on track?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Used the Oregon Model for Visioning This uses a series of Driving questions Blue Mountains City Council adapted it by the addition of the bits in Blue “Where have we come from” gives a stability to the process; prevents a complete re-invention or tangents. “How will we know we are on track”, With a feedback loop allows continuous improvement to occur. Council's Group Manager for Integrated Planning and Finance [6 Dillon] notes that undertaking the visioning process with a 25 year horizon brought about a paradigm shift in thinking. Envisioning the Blue Mountains in a 25 year frame instead of what is immediately before one, or one election cycle, resulted in different priorities being set than would otherwise have occurred. While it is not possible to predict and plan 25 years with certainty, as she says “If you don't know where you’re are going, how will you ever get there?” [6 Dillon] The loop is repeated each election cycle with the councillors getting to hear afresh at the beginning of their term a big picture. This balances the lobby groups.
In 2025 we live in vibrant, healthy communities. Our towns and villages are distinctive and contained. We have maintained the bush between our settlements and protected the World Heritage environment that surrounds us. Our local economy is strong and diversified, providing employment and educational opportunities appropriate to our location in a World Heritage area. We promote safe and accessible and environmentally responsible ways for people to get where they need to go. Caring for each other, we sustain our communities. We recognise all Blue Mountains people especially our children and young people in whom we inspire the values that create a more sustainable future.
We use our available resources wisely, ensuring their fair distribution. We celebrate the rich creativity, culture and heritage of the Blue Mountains. People of all cultures and backgrounds are respected and enjoy equal rights. We acknowledge the Aboriginal presence in the Blue Mountains. We have enhanced our Blue Mountains identity while forging strong regional partnerships. Our civic and community leadership and governance are inspirational – at one with the community. The Blue Mountains is recognised nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence for learning about sustainable living and sustainable communities.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Landscape planning – regional scale – 25 year time frame
Vision “the Map for Action” All the familiar planning tools: Council's planning instrument (Local Environmental Plan) protecting; • Bushland between towns • Character areas and heritage items An infrastructure plan drawn up to provide a framework for more tourists and other industries The importance of the transport corridor was recognised and a staff member appointed to liaison. but…
By going around the visioning loop and checking in Council saw….
Not quite on track..
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Because Council was doing it on their own. All the stakeholders were coming to the visioning table but not strongly enough engaged. People were forgetting the Vision; Focussing on the short term (Councillors with the election cycle, community members) Or on the easy or cheap (Council with lots to do) Or on what has been done before or done elsewhere (government departments)
Destination Road Map ? Vehicle ? Fuel
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So Blue Mountains city Council has adapted many things to sustain the Blue Mountains Vision over time Internal governance measures which I won’t go into here Strengthened all the relationships – And focussed on resourcing.
Your vehicle, to shape a landscape over 25 years, is the whole community
You need to be all heading in the same direction.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
It is a bigger picture of landscape planning to consider the community your tool of delivery – but with a long term view – that is how it is.
Relationships = Communication
Youth Council
Right people Right time Right information
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Relationships needed work in a number of ways Internal within Council And deliberate creation of jobs to reach out such as Transport Corridor Liaison officer Event Manager Aboriginal Liaison officer And then the formation of committees to feed information through; Heritage advisory Committee Arts Advisory Committee The Youth Council And special ones formed projects. Tell the highway story.
Fuel is both about understanding costs……. Cemetery Assets Register Town:
Name: Grass Mow Area (m2): Address:
Area: Oval Mow Area (m2): Water Meter:
Classification: Carpark: Entered By: Date:
Asset Description Condition Cost
Location Asset Component Material Unit Quantity Unit Rate Life Span Excellent
Blackheath Furniture sign metal metal EACH 9 $800 30 9 30 $7,200
Katoomba Furniture sign metal metal EACH 27 $800 30 27 30 $21,600
Wentworth Falls Furniture sign metal metal EACH 8 $800 30 8 30 $6,400
Lawson Furniture sign metal metal EACH 3 $800 30 3 30 $2,400
Faulconbridge Furniture sign metal metal EACH 1 $800 30 1 30 $800
Springwood Furniture sign metal metal EACH 5 $800 30 5 30 $4,000
Comments $53,600
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Asset Plans are the latest thing in the planning world. Understanding what you have and when it will need replacing and what that will cost. Blue Mountains City Council has spent a lot of time documenting this sort of thing. This comes with the other useful newish concept – Service levels – where Council articulates just how many pools it is will to provide, how many librarys, and how often it will mow the parks. There are plenty models on how to undertake these processes.
and community energy
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Who could not be inspired by this?
Spiritual fuel = enthusiasm and relevance
Presenter
Presentation Notes
There is nothing like talking about it to get people stirred up
Presenter
Presentation Notes
And learning about new things.
Is everyone engaged and informed?
What kind of Blue Mountains will the people of 2025 appreciate we have passed on to them?
What do we have the capacity to deliver?
Let’s go Are we on track? What do we know now?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
How Blue Mountains actually does visioning – and now it is called a community plan.
The Lawson town centre Story
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The Visioning process, and associated Community Plan, developed by Blue Mountains City Council has contributed significantly to the shaping of Blue Mountains towns over time. The changes is most towns have been incremental but Lawson Town Centre provides a clear demonstration of the tools that were used in working towards that part of the Vision Statement that says “In 2025 we live in vibrant, healthy communities. Our towns and villages are distinctive and contained.” [5 Blue Mountains City Council]. Lawson Town Centre was a small group of shops, and a pub, adjacent to a narrow part of the Great Western Highway which was proposed for widening. The shops were all to be demolished and the frontage of the pub altered. The Highway Authority – the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) – acquired the front of the shop properties and recompensed the owners with sufficient money to rebuild the shop fronts further back on their blocks, which put them on a steeper slope. Outlined below are how relationships with Mountains communities and understanding of the environment contributed to the Vision emerging in Lawson . 4.1 Relationships: Council established the Mid Mountains Sustainability Reference Group which included community members, RMS representatives, Council staff and Councillors. This group met regularly throughout the project to partner in the master planning and designing processes. This was a significant change from the earlier processes where the RMS developed designs, with the Highway needs as the principle focus, then sought approval from the Community but with limited scope for alterations. The process with the reference group took longer but the shared understanding of each groups' needs produced a better outcome both in the built result and in the relationships with the community. The Reference group identified the opportunity to utilise the steep slope and achieve two active commercial fronts instead of one; as shown in the sketch below. This created more retail opportunities, and allowed a community space, sheltered from the Highway, to be developed in the previously dead back-of-the-shops space. The proposal then added permission for shop top housing to further activate the town. The proposal required a more complex and more expensive provision of new roads and services by the RMS, and contributions by Council, but the benefits were understood and accepted to be worth the additional expenditure.
Get your vision Then keep talking about it all the time And sharing information all the time With absolutely everybody
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In summary – long term landscape planning includes. The Visioning process, the Sustainable Blue Mountains Vision and associated Community Plan, developed by Blue Mountains City Council have contributed significantly to the Blue Mountains retaining its special landscape and culture over time. This has been achieved through a focus not just on where a community wishes to head, but also the capacity of the organisation to: Continuously review and adapt the vision, Continuously improve relationships with all parties who contribute to the Sustainable Blue Mountains Vision; and Continuously increase the understanding of the natural, built and social landscape with monitoring, research and good data storage mechanisms.
Any questions?
With thanks to my friend David Moore who provided most of the photographs
