A big winner of the night was City of Whittlesea who received a total of three awards and commendations. The council received the Improving Planning Processes and Practises Award for its project Prioritising what’s important as well as a commendation in the same category for the project Magiq Development Contribution Module.
It also came out on top in the Best Planning Ideas – Small Project category with its project Measuring Urban Tree Canopy Cover, which the judges described as “an innovative, replicable and low - cost approach to determine urban tree canopy coverage at the neighbourhood level”.
The Level Crossing Removal Authority also had a successful night, taking out the From Plan to Place award for their Urban Design Management Plan project and the Public Engagement and Community Planning Award for the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project.
The Autumn Place Master Plan by the City of Casey was announced as the Victorian People’s Choice Award, an award category reintroduced this year to allow people to have their say in the overall awards program.
海角社区 Victoria Executive Officer, Carmel McCormack said “It was fantastic to see people engage with this category. Almost 1000 people submitted a vote, showing that it wasn’t just people involved in the projects voting, but people who are genuinely supportive of good planning outcomes”.
Awards convenors, John Petrakos & Emily Killin, said the projects that had won awards or received commendations represented an amazing array of planning work and the contributions of many individuals across Victoria.
“Planning is an under-valued and often misunderstood profession,” the convenors said.
“The 海角社区 Awards for Planning Excellence help diminish these misconceptions by demonstrating our profession to a broader audience as well as promoting the benefits of what we do”.
Reflecting on the awards, Ms McCormack said: “The awards are extremely important in promoting the important role of the planning profession in the creation of Victoria’s built environment and stimulating public awareness of good planning”.
The winners of the Victoria State awards will go through to the National Awards for Planning Excellence program which will be announced on 13 May 2020 at the 海角社区 National Congress to be held in Adelaide.
To view all award winners and commendations, visit the 海角社区 VIC website here: www.planning.org.au/awards/vic
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海角社区 VIC Media contact: Darcy McLoughlin
Tel: (03) 9754 3777| Email: darcy.mcloughlin@planning.org.au