The NSW Government’s land and property development agency Landcom has been recognised with two awards for excellence for its Parramatta Road strategy by the Planning Institute of Australia at its annual national awards ceremony.  

Landcom Chief Executive Officer John Brogden said the 30-year plan for the renewal of the Parramatta Road corridor was developed in close collaboration with other state agencies and local councils over three years while the agency was trading as UrbanGrowth NSW.

The strategy won two PIA state awards in November for the strategy and faced stiff competition at the national event from innovative projects undertaken by local and state governments, the private sector and not-for-profit organisations around Australia.

“We are thrilled to have received The Hard-Won Victory and Best Planning Ideas: Large Project categories for the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy at the awards ceremony on Wednesday night,” Mr Brogden said.

“The strategy for Parramatta Road really was a hard-one victory as it was an enormously complex project spanning 20 kilometres, from Granville to Camperdown, with almost one million people in 10 Local Government Areas, each with different planning controls.

“The team that delivered the strategy succeeded where six previous attempts over 20 years had failed.

“We’re very proud the strategy has been recognised for its holistic government approach and innovative stakeholder engagement model and I congratulate the team on winning these prestigious awards.”

The project was a collaboration between state and local governments, and an extensive community engagement plan was fundamental to creating the strategy, which was adopted by the NSW Minister for Planning in November 2016.

“We adopted a partnership approach with councils and government agencies at every step of the project, including providing councils with a seat at the table by seconding their staff to work as part of the project team,” Mr Brogden said.

“Communities were consulted through a range of activities throughout the process, including at workshops, focus groups, information sessions and online.

“The strategy provides a whole-of-government vision and framework for Parramatta Road, providing better certainty for property owners, developers and investors.

“This would never have been achieved without teamwork and close consultation with government agencies, stakeholders and the community.”

The strategy is an integrated land use planning and transport framework to support new homes and jobs over the next 30 years.  It is supported by a toolkit that includes a $198 million NSW Government funding package to stimulate growth and change in the corridor.

Projects include streetscape upgrades, creation of new or improved open spaces, urban plazas and town squares, and walking and cycling links between transport hubs.

The improvement program is being managed by the Greater Sydney Commission.

The awards also recognised the consultant team consisting of Cox Richardson, Connybeare Morrison, Oculus, AECOM, Elton Consulting, GHD, HillPDA, Jacobs, Kinesis and SJB.

The annual PIA Awards for Planning Excellence demonstrate leading practice, leadership and achievement in planning and the planning profession. The awards recognise excellence and showcase leading practice across a range of planning disciplines and sectors.