Our regional plan won’t end well

Early versions of regional plans adopted by State Governments in the late 1990s to early 2000s were full of promise. Notable among these for its unbridled exuberance was the community consultation document for the “Draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney to 2031” which promised (on the cover no less): “A home I can afford. Great transport connections. More jobs closer to where I live. Shorter commutes. The right type of home for my family. A park for the kids. Local schools, shops and hospitals. Liveable neighbourhoods.” 

A more succinct shopping list of failed ambition would be hard to find. 

Regional plans for metro regions were created around the same time and were built on similar assumptions. The late eminent town planner Tony Powell AO lamented that the Melbourne 2020 plan was “superficial to the point of ridiculousness.”   “The proposition in the latest crop of metropolitan strategy plans that 50% or more of future housing development can be accommodated in existing suburban areas of the major cities is patently ridiculous. These are simply unexamined and unreliable hypotheses, not strategies ,” he said.

The precursor to the first of the Queensland regional plans was “SEQ 2001” a growth management project of the 1990s. By 2005 we had The South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005-2026 which included a foreword by then Premier Beattie, Minister Mackenroth and Lord Mayor Newman: 

“There exists an adage, ‘if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail’. Whilst many of us will have heard this, it is easily forgotten and often overlooked. The South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005-2026 will not be forgotten and will never be overlooked.”

It wasn’t forgotten and instead quickly updated with a regional plan for 2009-2031 under Premier Anna Bligh, Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and Campbell Newman (still as Lord Mayor). This one claimed that “As Australia’s fastest-growing state, Queensland needs a contemporary system of planning that is responsive to change and continues to deliver the lifestyle for which we are famous.”

“It’s a plan for smart growth, to manage our expanding population and tackle the issues of today like housing affordability, congestion and climate change. To manage growth, the regional plan promotes compact settlement by consolidating growth in existing areas which are close to public transport, to encourage reduced car use and help fight congestion. The SEQ Regional Plan ensures there is adequate land available for new homes, businesses and infrastructure to 2031, while safeguarding more than 85 per cent of the region from inappropriate urban development.”

Noble aims but few achieved. In some cases, the opposite. 

Now, over a quarter of century after the early ‘SEQ2001’ we are operating under the latest version: “Shaping SEQ 2023.”  It’s fair to ask what’s changed in response to the passage of time and major societal, industry and technological change. For context, the very first I-Phone was released in 2007. A lot has changed since then, except for some of the philosophical tenets of our regional plan.