The Western Australian government, like its counterparts in most other states, has been a given a "C" rating by the planning profession.
The Western Australian government, like its counterparts in most other states, has been a given a "C" rating by the planning profession.
The Planning Institute of Australia's annual report card is based on 12 criteria, including growth management, sustainability, infrastructure, housing, workforce planning, urban design and assessment processes.
The WA government had standout results in two areas - it was judged to be the top state for public transport planning and for public participation in the planning process.
Its score for these criteria was "B minus", which was the highest rating any state achieved for any criteria.
In regard to transport planning, 60 per cent of respondents gave WA a score of "A" or "B", putting WA 25 per cent ahead of the next closest state.
The negatives for WA were its housing affordability strategy, its workforce planning and climate change strategy: it scored "D plus" for these criteria.
The overall rating for every state was "C", except for NSW and Tasmania which were given an overall rating of "D plus".
A statement from the Planning Institute is pasted below:
Investment needed to "future proof" & "climate proof" Australia
The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) National Planning Report Card again gives Australian planning systems a poor "C" rating.
"The Report Card spans 12 critical factors necessary for the health and wellbeing of Australia's cities and regions. The planning profession has again rated our national effort as very average. This is clearly not good enough", said Sue Holliday, National President of PIA.
"Australia can and must do much more. National, state and territory governments, local government and the development industry should be working closer together to "future proof" and "climate proof" our communities.
Climate Change was added to the survey this year. In terms of our plans to address the impacts of climate change, Australia gets a "C minus" with even lower, "D" scores in some states.
"The profession is telling us they are seeing inadequate progress nationally and locally. We need urgent action to ensure that we can adapt to the impacts of climate change and mitigate the effects we now know it will have on the way we live.
It's not all bad news!
Planners who responded to the survey say there are some positive initiatives underway. Despite the highest average score in any state against any criteria being a "B minus", PIA says there is a glimmer of hope.
"Planners were upbeat about initiatives underway in most states to plan for and manage the impacts of growth. Queensland and the ACT were the best performers, with the South East Queensland Plan showing us how to better integrate infrastructure investment and planning", Sue Holliday said.
Public participation and streamlining development assessment, including cutting red tape, are also areas where planners see some positive steps being taken.
"However, it is clear that we are not acting urgently enough to "future proof" our cities and regions", Sue Holliday said.
"Families need investment in affordable housing and transport systems. Strategic planning and investment in infrastructure in the right locations is critical if Australia is to create strong, prosperous and liveable communities for future generations.
"The Report card gave Australia's efforts to address housing affordability a big thumbs down. No state in Australia yet has adequate strategies in place to provide enough housing choice for our changing households nor to deal with the crisis in affordability, let alone produce more sustainable housing stock.
"Planners also believe that we are doing pretty poorly in getting our transport systems right, apart from WA which is seen as a standout performer", Ms Holliday said.
"The shape and nature of our cities, towns, regions and neighbourhoods directly affects the quality of our lives. Effective planning requires long term vision, political commitment and investment.
"This survey says we are not doing enough which means we are not only letting ourselves down, but also our kids - future generations of Australians", Ms Holliday concluded.
Over 740 planning professionals from around Australia responded to this opinion survey. Urban design and climate change were added to the survey this year taking the number of questions in the survey from 10 to 12.
