News.

08/10/11

Hearts of our towns ripped out in vicious mallings

Richard Glover’s column in the SMH today is a wake up call for our local councils and town centres. I spend a lot time in mid west America and the devastation I see that has been wrought on main streets in regional areas is not just from tornados. Shopping malls and discount stores on the outskirts of towns in many instances have destroyed main street USA. Empty shopfronts and the lack or retail and services is prevalent. Competition is non existent. Let it not continue to happen here.

28/05/11

Special rate levy & BIDS vulnerable in Australia

This month’s axing of the CBD Special Rate Levy by the City of Greater Bendigo shows just how vulnerable these BID-like schemes are in an Australian legislative setting. If the scheme had been renewed, it would have raised $1.2Million to market and promote the CBD over the next four years.

Instead, some Councillors and supportive stakeholders are left wondering who will now champion the CBD.  Council’s news release about the decision to reject the new funding round points to concerns by a ‘large number of city centre businesses’.

Although based on the galvanising idea behind US Business Improvement Districts, there are some key differences that make Australian BIDs vulnerable: one of these is that there is no consistent, pre-determined method of obtaining and demonstrating continuing support.

The United Kingdom recognised this potential vulnerability when it formally enabled BIDS through legislation.  The Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations 2004 describe in detail how a BID should be established, managed (particularly financially), reviewed, renewed and terminated.

We can’t help but think Australia too, needs some national legislation to encourage and support these business driven self-improvement schemes.

14/05/11

Who will pay to turn the Callan Park Master Plan into reality?

We conducted 3 bus tours of Callan Park today, taking a route that was able to explain many of the key features of the draft Master Plan which is now on exhibition.  Like the drop in events we held late last year and earlier this year, the bus tours attracted some new participants who hadn’t been involved in the intense workshopping and surveying and briefings and online interactions that form the basis of what the Master Plan proposes.  It’s no surprise that for these community members the experience of touring Callan Park was highly educational.

http://callanparkyourplan.com.au/index.php even those who had been heavily http://callanparkyourplan.com.au/index.php in the past felt that the tours gave them a much better appreciation of the way the draft Master Plan responds to community input, balances competing community interests, and fits within the framework of the legislation that governs development at Callan Park.

For future projects of this size, it could be fruitful to include bus or walking tours earlier in the consultation process.  For Callan Park, the most frequent question we heard today was ‘who’s going to pay for it?’ A good question on two fronts: it means that despite any lingering individual doubts about certain aspects of the draft Master Plan the overwhelming community sentiment is support for its intent; and it points to the Federal, State and Local funding partnerships that will be necessary to save Callan Park from the neglect it suffers today.

 

 

11/05/11

Mental Health Budget Allocation Good News for Callan Park

The community’s desire to see Callan Park as a Wellness Sanctuary – a place for strengthening and restoring mental health and community wellness – looks a little more possible today after the Federal Government’s $1.5b boost for mental health funding.
With an emphasis on early intervention, care outside hospitals, and employment services for those living with a mental illness, the budget aligns well with draft Master Plan proposals for Callan Park.

11/05/11

Callan Park Master Plan Bus Tours Saturday 14 May

As the formal exhibition period for the Callan Park Master Plan draws to a close, we’re running three bus tours of the site on Saturday 14 May. These tours create the opportunity to explain aspects of the Master Plan in detail, answer specific questions about particular buildings or particular areas of the site or particular aspects of the proposed governance structure for Callan Park. It’s been a while since our last Callan Park workshop, and it looks like this new (for this project) form of engagement has attracted some members of the community we haven’t met before in addition to those who’ve shown their continuing interest in the project through workshops, online participation, and dropping in to the exhibitions. Should be a great day.

04/04/11

Legislation can’t achieve best practice consultation?

Neil Savery, CEO of the ACT Planning and Land Agency, was today quoted in the Canberra Times as saying ‘it would be very difficult to mandate by legislation or practice what community consultation should comprise’.  We agree with Neil that you can’t have a ‘one size fits all’ model of community engagement, but this year we’ll be exploring how to move beyond the various ‘best practice models’ that exist around Australia to a national framework for community engagement.