Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I realise that there are others who want to speak, so I will make my contribution short. Last week, last Thursday and Friday, I attended the Planning Institute of Australia Tasmania’s conference at Hobart Town Hall. It was the biggest conference that PIA TAS had held, with over 200 delegates, and I commend the organisers.
The conference theme was ‘Stronger together: Shaping Tasmania’s next chapter’. It is not the first time that I have been to planning conferences. It is good to see how planning thinking is evolving, and it is really important for my professional development to get a handle on what the thoughts of planners in Tasmania are, the community. The minister, Mr Vincent, who was there, didn’t stick to his script but he did talk about his portfolios of planning, housing, infrastructure and transport, which is a good mix in relation to this. It is good to hear a minister with significant interest in regional land use and strategic planning.
For me, it was very good to hear how the planning profession is addressing the myriad challenges. Currently, it is the number of planners; it is very difficult to fill planning positions across many local governments and even state planning positions. There was a lack of action on strategic planning previously so that commitment by minister Vincent was very welcome to delegates as well as me.
I went on one of the field trips and it took me across the river to the beautiful Clarence City Council area. We caught ferries across and had a look at the City Heart project, which is 10 years in the making with its stops and starts. There is so much potential along that Kangaroo Bay foreshore. There is still the controversial Chambroad proposal, which is still in the courts, and arguably on what should be public land and used for public good and, of course, the high-performance centre back‑and‑forth, when that was considered for the area. There is potential for consolidation of car parks for better use of public space and daylighting the rivulet that goes through the main area which City Heart proposes. I am looking forward to hearing the good discussions and what good planning, meaningful consultation and local champions could bring forth.
We then visited the Takara Limuna walk, which is a coastal walk at Geilston Bay. It won one of the national awards from the Planning Institute. It was a collaboration between Theresa Sainty and staff, including Tracks and Trails, Heritage and Planning. It is a Palawa interpretation and connection to land country, sky country and water, and of course, the connection to Kunanyi. Working with community is all very important. It strengthens planning outcomes, particularly that knowledge and connection to how Palawa look at the land as well.
There was also a conference panel which explored what makes small cities work. Among the panel members was Jade Li, who is the chair of the Multicultural Council of Tasmania. Apart from things like a great mix of activities and connections with transport, there is the issue about cities being friendly but not welcoming. That was delved into in greater detail, and how we can break that down. For multicultural communities, sometimes being in a new city or in a city for many years, you can feel that it’s friendly, but it’s not welcoming. There was talk about how safer public spaces, meaningful public structures, and public spaces such as libraries can be really informed by multicultural communities.
The message that came through for me was that we are stronger together to shape Tasmania. Planning can help find solutions and it is better to work together where possible, to value community and [inaudible 6.48.22 p.m.] There are solutions for housing, for urban design, for inclusivity, and for protection of environmental values. That’s what we should all strive for.
