Vincent Vision 2024: Community Visioning

Draft Local Planning Strategy borne out of Vincent Vision 2024 to be reported to the Council

It is advised that the Draft Local Planning Strategy will be considered by the Council at its Special Meeting to be held on Tuesday 28 October 2008 at 6:00 pm in the Council Chambers on the first floor of the Administration and Civic Centre. The Draft Local Planning Strategy represents the strategic direction for the future of the Town in line with a statutory requirement to review a Town Planning Scheme every five years. In this respect, the Review of Town Planning Scheme No.1 and the associated preparation of this Local Planning Strategy has largely been guided by the community visioning project Vincent Vision 2024 which from its inception, aimed to get maximum involvement from the whole Vincent community. The primary aim of Vincent Vision 2024 was to develop a community vision to shape the future development and growth of the Town of Vincent and to establish a blueprint and community vision to guide future growth and development.

Accordingly, the community vision developed through this process set the direction for the new Town Planning Scheme and has also provided a clear picture of the community’s values, aspirations and priorities to guide the Town’s strategic direction, planning and policy into the future.

This meeting is an open Council Meeting and can be attended by members of the public. You have the opportunity to address the Council on the matter, but this is limited to a maximum of three (3) minutes. Should you wish to speak on the item, you are required to be at the meeting by 6:00 pm. A copy of the agenda, including the report of the above-mentioned item, is available for viewing from Thursday 23 October 2008 (midday) at the Council’s Administration and Civic Centre, Library, or website at www.vincent.wa.gov.au.

If you have any enquiries regarding the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact Helen Smith on (08) 9273 6013

Beginning in April 2004 the Town of Vincent embarked on Vincent Vision 2024, an ambitious project to establish a long range community vision for a new Town Planning Scheme and to guide the strategic direction of the Town of Vincent into the future.

A major Community Vision workshop and five place workshops attracted the involvement of almost 500 people and a Community Issues, Trends and Vision Survey involved a further 300 people. In total the project engaged 1,170 people in various pursuits and activities.

The vision statements for Vincent and each of the five ‘places’ have been developed based on the outcomes and findings of all the various community engagement activities and reflect the views and aspirations of the community.

The Vincent Vision 2024 project also won three awards for Planning Excellence at the 2005 Planning Institute of Australia (WA) Awards and a National Merit Award for Community Based Planning at the 2006 Planning Institute of Australia National Conference.

Residents and Ratepayers were invited to the launch on 29 March 2006, with over 70 people attending the evening. The Mayor officially presented the final documents, which have been reproduced onto a CD-Rom and include the complete set of visions, statements and the guiding principles which underline the implementation of Vincent Vision 2024.

Copies of the CD-Rom are available from the Town of Vincent Administration and Civic Centre, 224 Vincent Street, Leederville, The Town of Vincent Library, Loftus Recreation Centre, Corner of Loftus and Vincent Streets, Leederville or by contacting the Vincent Vision 2024 Planning Officer, Helen Smith on 9273 6528 or email Helen.Smith@vincent.wa.gov.au.

The Town of Vincent has won a community-based planning merit award at the National Awards for Planning Excellence 2006.

The Planning Institute Australia & New Zealand Planning Institute held their Awards for Planning Excellence on the Gold Coast on 3 April.

"Not only do these awards provide leading examples of planning practise, they also demonstrate what can be achieved through innovative and creative thinking, collaboration, and commitment to a vision of vibrant and sustainable communities", said Sue Holliday, National President of the Planning Institute of Australia.

The Town of Vincent won a national merit award in the community-based planning category for its Vincent Vision 2024 project. This accolade comes on top of the three awards for Planning Excellence in the Planning Institute of Australia (WA Division) awards for their Vincent Vision 2024 project: Award for Excellence in Community Based Planning; WA President's Award; and WA Planning Minister's Award.

The judges cited the Vincent Vision 2024 project as an excellent model for community participation in the planning process. "Based on a ‘Community Visioning’ model, the Town of Vincent engaged with a wide cross section of the community and other stakeholders to develop a long term plan for the future of their community. The judges were particularly impressed with the positive energy and genuine community focus of the applicants that came through in their presentation of the project during the judging process."

Mayor Nick Catania said, "The Town of Vincent is committed to creating a town and a community in which everyone wants to live. The visions for Vincent from our community become the building blocks upon which the Town sets its goals and priorities. We are honoured to have had our Vincent Vision 2024 project awarded in the national arena. On behalf of the Council and the Administration I would like to thank our Vincent Vision project team for their outstanding dedication and professionalism."

Councillor Helen Doran-Wu, Manager of Planning, Building & Heritage Services Des Abel and Strategic Planning Officer Helen Smith were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the Town. The National Awards ceremony was held as part of the second joint congress of the Planning Institute of Australia and New Zealand Planning Institute.

On 29 March the Town of Vincent hosted a community presentation and launch of Vincent Vision 2024 to celebrate the visions, the community's participation and to outline the findings and what will be the next stage of the project.

The Town of Vincent has scooped the prizes at the Planning Institute Australia (Western Australia Division) Awards for Planning Excellence which was held at the Parmelia Hilton, on 12 October 2005. Read more...

As part of the Community Visioning process, a series of workshops were held across the Town of Vincent in the key town centres.

What is a Placecheck?
Placecheck is a method of assessing the qualities of a place, showing what improvements are needed, and focusing people on working together to achieve them. A Placecheck can cover a street, a neighbourhood, a town centre, or a whole district or city and aims to define its character, value and visual qualities by asking a comprehensive range of questions about the processes of change and the potential for improving the area.

The Placechecks were carried out in each of the 5 town centres of Leederville, Mt Hawthorn, Brisbane / William St, North Perth and Mt Lawley Highgate.

The Placecheck reports and reports from the Placecheck workshops are available in the Library section of this site.

During the consultation phase of Vincent Vision 2024 over 1170 residents and ratepayers of the Town of Vincent have participated in Vincent Vision 2024 providing their thoughts, views and visions for the future. Vincent Vision 2024 hosted its Project Launch in July 2004 which was followed by five town centre workshops and Placecheck analysis, a telephone survey, an on-line survey and discussion forum, youth and business surveys, a Primary School aged children's visioning workshop, a kids drawing competition and lastly, a Business Breakfast Forum was held on 14 March 2005 to gauge the business community's thoughts on the Town's future.

The more people that know about the Vincent Vision 2024 project the better the outcome for the community.

Background to the Town of Vincent's formation

On 1 July 1994, the restructure of the City of Perth created three new local governments: the Towns of Vincent, Cambridge and Shepparton (now Victoria Park), plus a smaller City of Perth. Commissioners were appointed to control these until elections were held in May 1995.

The Town of Vincent is named after Vincent Street, which is a major road through the centre of the Town. It is also the location of the Town's Council Chambers and administrative offices. Vincent Street is believed to be named after George Vincent, the Chief Draftsman in the Lands Department and original grantee of land on the north side, east from Charles Street. He named it after himself on issue of the first Crown Grant of Perth c.1876.

The municipality includes the suburbs of North Perth, Leederville, Highgate, Mt Hawthorn, and parts of East Perth, West Perth, Perth City, Mt Lawley and Coolbinia. Although only new, within its boundaries Vincent holds a rich and varied history. It is a place of cultural diversity with residents whose origins lie in places like Europe and Asia, and 45% of whom were born overseas. Reflections of this variety are found in the number of religions or spiritual groups that have representation within the Town, among them 18 Christian denominations, and Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

There are busy and popular commercial areas such as Beaufort Street, Oxford Street, Scarborough Beach Road and peaceful suburbs where old and new lie side by side. There is more than a hundred years of built history and heritage within the boundaries of the municipality - and all of it, whether a century, a decade, or just a few years old, is important to the Town of Vincent.

All of it contributes to the colour and personality of Vincent, enriching rthe lives of the people who live here and of those just passing through.

Community Visioning and the Town of Vincent

Against this background and ten years on, the Town has moved into an exciting new era and is embracing the challenge of change in a rapidly changing world. To this end, the Council at its Ordinary Meeting held 27 May 2003 resolved to undertake a 'Community Visioning' process alongside the review of Town Planning Scheme No.1. Excerpts by Steven C Ames on 'What is Visioning?' briefly outlines the concept as follows:

"Visioning is a process through which a community can develop a strategic vision for its future and then plans how to achieve it. It brings people together to develop a shared image of 'where' they want their community to be in the future. Once a community has envisioned where it wants to be, it can begin to consciously work toward that goal. A vision is the guiding image of what a community would like to be, and a vision statement is the formal expression of such a vision. It depicts in words and images what the community seeks to become - how it would look, how it would function, how it might be different or better. A vision statement is also the starting point for the development and implementation of a strategic action plan that can help the community mobilise to achieve its vision over time."

The Oregon Model of Community Visioning has been used and acclaimed internationally as a process through which any community can create a shared vision for its future and begin to make that vision a reality. There are five key qualities of this model.

Engaging the whole community.

Reflecting core community values.

Responding to emerging trends and issues.

Building a strategic future vision.

Focusing on local action.

The Town of Vincent's Community Visioning process will primarily guide the review of the Town's Town Planning Scheme and provide a vision for the Town's future. The Broad Objectives of the Town of Vincent Community Visioning Process are to -

provide a clear, deliverable and realistic direction and basis for the town planning scheme review.

engage and retain maximum community involvement particularly inclusive of 'silent voices'.

engage and retain maximum involvement from the Town's ethnic communities.

create a deliverable, sustainable vision.

develop a 'culture change' in the community's perceptions of local government.

build consensus among residents, business proprietors, key stakeholders, Elected Members and the Town's staff to achieve the goals and vision.

incorporate the principles of the Town's Vision as detailed in the Strategic Plan 2003-2008.

The Town Planning Scheme Review

The Town Planning and Development Act 1928 (Clause 7AA Review of Schemes) requires a town planning scheme to be reviewed in each fifth year following the promulgation gazettal of the Scheme. The Town of Vincent Town Planning Scheme No.1 was gazetted/promulgated on 4 December 1998 and therefore was due for formal review by 4 December 2003.

Prior to formally commencing the review of the Scheme, the Town was required to examine its current Scheme through a report (referred to as the Scheme Examination Report - (SER)) to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure on the operation of the Scheme as the first formal step of the Scheme Review.

The Town Planning Scheme will establish a blueprint for the development of Vincent, determining what can be built in residential, commercial and other areas, and the uses that can occur, such as shopping, entertainment or recreational.

While the aims of a Town Planning Scheme vary to reflect particular local characteristics and circumstances, generally the aims of a Town Planning Scheme focus on:

Supporting housing choice and variety and the development of neighbourhoods with human amenity and sense of community.

Providing convenient, lively and attractive retail centres, which serve the needs of residents and visitors, accessible to pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users and motorists.

Assisting commercial and business development to maximise job opportunities and to broaden the economic base.

Supporting the provision of a transport network covering a range of alternatives, including public transport, cycling and walking.

Supporting the conservation and wise use of natural resources and sustainable land use and development.

Establishing a well located network of public open space, services and infrastructure to meet the requirements of the local community.

Protecting heritage values and developing the unique identity and characteristics of the area.

Trends and Projections

It is anticipated that populations of inner urban areas such as those suburbs within the Town will continue to grow for at least another 5 years and at this stage, projections beyond 2016 also indicate growth. The demographic trend towards smaller household sizes, resulting in one and two person households accounting for 55 per cent of households in Western Australia, is expected to continue increasing in the future. This will impact upon future dwelling design, size and densities, which is particularly relevant in the Town where greater dwelling density and diversity is customary.

The implications of population change may be minimal or negligible in the short term however; in the long run, the implications cannot be ignored as the consequences of an ageing population and change in family structure become more acute. The Town's demographic profile clearly indicates a growing proportion of 'older' age groups, however the predominant group (39.9 per cent) would be classified as couples or singles aged 25-44 years, without children (45 per cent). Further census analysis has revealed that while the population is aging, the Town's existing aged population (65 years and over) is actually declining. This is consistent with trends which suggest that inner-urban areas are generally not sought out by retirees except in instances where a particular lifestyle is chosen or for reasons associated with proximity to medical facilities.

The Department for Planning and Infrastructure prepares the official state statistical division and local government area population projections. The projections are produced in three series - low, medium and high - based on differing levels of interstate and overseas migration, and fertility assumptions. The report titled 'Future Perth' projects that the population of the Perth metropolitan region will increase from 1.3 million in 1996 to 2.1 million by 2031. This represents an increase of 800,000 over the period or an average annual growth rate of 1.4 per cent. The report details a population increase for the Town of Vincent to 28,100 by 2006 (9.11 per cent), 31,100 by 2016 (9.03 per cent) and 35,900 by 2031 (8.66 per cent).

These projections of an additional 10,282 persons over a period of 30 years (approximately 342 persons per year) is likely to have a significant impact on planning policy within the Town which will need to be addressed in any review of the Town Planning Scheme. The ability of the Town to support such growth, and the willingness of the current population to grow in this way needs to be investigated and examined in the review of the Town Planning Scheme.

There has been concern raised in the Town that State Government policies geared to achieve housing numbers for the expected population increases will result in unacceptable development in the Town. Such concerns relate to the type of development which occurs within the existing density provisions of the Scheme, and actual achievable densities which are restricted by factors such as:

a desire to retain streetscapes.

a trend to retain and renovate character homes.

heritage considerations and an aversion by the Town to allow widespread demolition, and

the zoning and subject lot sizes do not enable the density yield to be achieved unless lots are amalgamated.

A growing population naturally means an increase in housing. More specifically, however, the demand for housing is generated by the age structure and household composition, and these determine the rate of household formation which in turn determines the type of housing. As evidenced by census figures, the Town has experienced an increase in housing however such growth is disproportionate to the increase in persons. That is, from 1996 to 2001 an increase of 630 dwellings corresponded with an increase of 897 persons. This is supported by the declining mean household size which in 1991 was 2.34 persons per household, 2.27 in 1996 and 2.22 in 2001. In comparison, the mean household size for the Perth metropolitan region was 2.63 in 2001.

Given that a comprehensive review of residential densities in the Town has not been carried out since at least 1994, with the exception of an in-house review in August 2001, the Town, generally, is not in a position to accurately gauge whether the existing densities and provisions of the Scheme have the support of the Town's people or indeed, whether the Scheme is realising the aims and objectives set down at its inception.

Project Structure

The project structure sets out the framework by which the process for the Vincent Community Visioning project will be managed and coordinated.

Because community visioning is fundamentally a collaborative process that depends upon the involvement of local residents, key stakeholders, businesses and civic groups, as well as elected members and Council staff, the project structure should reflect wide involvement and should foster cooperation and partnership.

Your interest and participation in this project is eagerly sought and together will form the basis of a vision for the Town of Vincent.