Planner comes home to Sunraysia’s ‘classic old township’

TIM Parker has impeccable planning credentials.

Over the past three decades he’s worked on major Adelaide projects such as the Walker Corporation’s 12,000-lot Riverlea development, as well as the Lend Lease (then Delfin) 10,000-lot Golden Grove project in the 1990s.

The senior urban designer also helped drive Stockland’s 6500-lot Highlands project at Craigieburn, as well as the 2500-lot Lyndarum project for AV Jennings at Epping in Melbourne.

It’s been a heady ride dealing with the who’s who of the development industry.

However, the father-of-three’s life has recently turned full circle after returning to Sunraysia, where he is now working for the Anderson Group.

Mr Parker this week reflected on his childhood days in Red Cliffs, where his parents ran the local TAB outlet from 1972 to 1987, and gave his insights into how the region can grow in a sustainable way.

“My brother and I ran pretty wild on our bikes around Red Cliffs back in those days,” he said.

“It was a great place to grow up, where it was really easy to get around the town.

“It’s really interesting being back in the region now seeing how old Mildura still has that classic old township look about it.

“There’s plenty of character about the place, that’s for sure. And any future planning we do needs to factor in the great characteristics that already exist here.”

Mr Parker said it was important that as the municipality grows, “we stay connected so people aren’t isolated”.

“When you look at health and wellbeing, a lot of it is getting out and about and having the walkability around the town,” he said.

“The other thing for a place like Mildura is the sustainability element and addressing the urban heat islands that exist by increasing tree canopy cover.

“Some councils see street trees as a maintenance issue, when in fact they are an asset and can actually save money because you won’t have to do things like reseal roads as often.”

He also reflected on how the layers of red tape had increased since he started working as a planner in the early 1990s.

“I remember with the Golden Grove project, we’d take in a plan to council on a single piece of paper,” Mr Parker said.

“We’d get a response back from council in what they called the statement of requirements.

“Over two pages it’d just say you’d have to supply electricity, stormwater, sewer, water and put footpaths on certain roads.

“Now, you almost need a sack trolley to wheel in a box full of reports, with each coming from a different specialist at a considerable cost.

“There have been some benefits from the more extensive process, such as more awareness of sustainability issues.

“But time is money and the longer process adds to the costs (of developers) and the end user eventually pays for it.”