PIA Awards for Planning Excellence 2015

1 November 2015

EPS are pleased to have qualified as Finalists at the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) — NSW’s 2015 Awards for Planning Excellence in the award category ‘Hard Won Victory’. EPS staff members attended the awards ceremony held at Doltone House, Hyde Park, in November 2015.

The ‘Hard Won Victory’ award is intended to recognise planning initiative, effort or leadership that has resulted in positive planning outcomes in the face of difficult or trying circumstances. EPS was nominated for its work on the Saint Phillips Christian College (SPCC) ‘Narnia Christian Preschool’ project.

SPCC is a Hunter based education facility catering for Junior, Middle and Senior School students. The Port Stephens campus opened in 1995 and in early 2013, SPCC began investigating the potential to develop the ‘Narnia Christian Preschool’ as part of the College. The proposal would provide a positive community benefit in a strategically located position to bring a cohesive integrated education facility within the one extended campus.

Located on bushfire prone land, the development application was lodged as Integrated Development requiring approval from the Rural Fire Service (RFS). This created a number of challenges and barriers for the proposal, including:

  1. A dispute over the definition of ‘infill development’ and whether the proposal qualified as an infill or stand-alone proposal. This issue was complex and required expert legal advice;
  2. An Alternative Solution for the Special Fire Protection Purpose required detailed modelling and radiant heat calculations. This was complicated by the fact that fuel sampling was impeded by recent RFS back burning activities; and
  3. The APZ areas were located on Crown Land subject to a pending Aboriginal Land Claim. This meant that guaranteeing maintenance of the APZ areas in perpetuity to satisfy RFS was complex, involved multiple interests and impacted by a highly regulated legislative framework.

Despite a number of complex and specialist hurdles that needed to be overcome, this hard won victory represents a satisfactory resolution for all parties. EPS is proud of its involvement in the SPCC project, and we hope to continue to dedicate our time and expertise to community based projects in the years to come.

We wish to congratulate all of the winners of the 2015 Awards for Planning Excellence – well done!