Big wins at the 2022 PIA National Awards

Congratulations to our WSP teams and clients who recently won big at the 2022 Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) National Awards for Planning Excellence!

Thursday, 2 June 2022 - Australia

Held in Hobart during the PIA’s Planning Congress 2022, the awards showcase leading practice and achievement in planning and the planning profession across a range of planning disciplines and sectors.

Strategic Planning Project Award: Town of Victoria Park Draft Transport Strategy and Parking Management Plan | WA

In this category, the Town of Victoria Park (WA), WSP and Australian Parking Consultants were recognised for excellence in the creation of an Integrated Transport Strategy and Parking Management Plan.

According to the PIA, the project interprets the NSW Movement and Place Framework and applies it to an inner-city area experiencing long term growth, accelerated by urban densification and functioning as a movement corridor between Perth and the SE suburbs. Transport infrastructure in the area is attracting significant external investment and the obvious benefits need to be balanced with useful local outcomes. The unique feature of this project has been to integrate a Transport Strategy focussed on local accessibility with a Parking Management Plan, both developed in the light of community aspirations in the form of user mindset analysis.

This integrated approach has resulted in specific initiatives that are being implemented along with the Town’s other works and community programs. These are now embedded in the Town’s corporate planning system which adds the extra discipline of corporate governance, such as priorities, budgeting and risk assessment.

Well-done to the WSP project team who led the delivery of this fantastic project for one of our key local government clients including Harriet Farminer, James Pearse, Mark Fowler and Melissa Rachan.

Climate Change and Resilience Award: Planning for Net Zero Energy Buildings

This award category acknowledges the important and varied role planning can play in responding to climate change. It highlights projects and initiatives that provide outstanding leadership and/or innovation that makes a positive impact on addressing climate change and can be held up as a case study of best practice for the planning profession.

Congratulations to everyone from City of Sydney Council, WSP Australia and Common Capital who worked on this project.

According to the PIA, the City of Sydney collaborated extensively with industry and government to develop energy performance standards for net zero energy buildings, to contribute to reducing these greenhouse gas emissions.

The new performance standards are step change improvements in energy performance in the planning controls to transition buildings to net zero energy. The performance standards bring together energy efficiency, on-site renewables and off-site renewables to deliver these requirements. The City of Sydney has provided outstanding leadership with this initiative, the evidence behind the justification as to why developers should plan for net zero buildings and leading the approach to strategic and the statutory planning framework.

The judges were impressed with the stakeholders’ leadership to incorporate climate change in the planning process. The judges commended the extensive collaboration with the industry, local and state government in the creation of this framework, and the opportunity for this to be used as a template across NSW and Australia.