Good city planning starts on the ground floor.
Recently, it started on Year 7 and 8 classroom floors when Redland City Council town planners recently dropped into classes at several schools.
City Mayor Jos Mitchell said the town planners visited Victoria Point State High School, Capalaba State College, and Ormiston College, as part of the students’ humanities/geography curriculum.
“The purpose of these sessions was to provide students some real-world learning on town planning – for example how Council uses planning principles to make decisions to improve liveability on Redlands Coast,” the Mayor said.
“The sessions were interactive and informative for students and allowed them to look at scenarios in their local area.
“The Victoria Point students were already working on a theoretical Creative Valley planning exercise in which the core challenge was to decide where to locate a new residential community.
“Officers reported that the students approached the challenge thoughtfully, as they actively weighed up accessibility to shops, services, and employment within a landscape of hills and forests, divided into quadrants by a major highway and river.
“In exploring location options with planners, students identified key issues, such as limited road underpasses and potential natural hazards, including bushfire risk and the likelihood that parts of the area are within a floodplain.”
Each school presentation took a different perspective, based on the type of lesson and project the students had been involved in.
The Mayor said students from Capalaba State College examined the very real challenges of continued growth and development in the centre of Capalaba, constrained by historic developments and infrastructure issues.
“The planning presentations have also allowed students to be introduced to several easily accessible and highly useful information tools,” she said.
“These include the Red-e-Map online planning and mapping system, the Economy.ID database of local statistics, and the Your Say Redlands Coast website, which regularly invites the community to share their views on local projects and issues.”
Planning and Regulation Portfolio representative councillor Rowanne McKenzie said Council was currently working towards a new City Plan to replace the Redland City Plan 2018, with the first round of community engagement on the drafting expected in early to mid-2026.
“The new plan will guide growth and change across our city for the next 25 years,” Cr McKenzie said.
“Part of the process in developing a new plan is seeking feedback and ideas from the community at key stages of the project.
“The school sessions are one element of a community education program designed to explain what town planning involves so people can give informed feedback.
“Council has also produced a suite of planning education videos and web content describing how city planning works, why it matters, and opportunities to be involved.
“I encourage you to check out these resources and others that are available on Council’s website, because community involvement is an integral part of the city planning process.”
To learn more, go to the Understanding the City Planning Puzzle page at redland.qld.gov.au
