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Don’t blame the planners

Dec 11, 2014

In an example of irony that would make Alanis Morissette blush, yesterday’s eloquent missive in InDaily by Master Builders Association CEO John Stokes invoked Colonel William Light to criticise how urban and regional planners do their jobs.

Light is widely considered the non-biological father of Adelaide’s world-renowned urban form. And while his professional progeny in planning might have departed somewhat from the historical and ideological constraints that guided his thinking, the urban pattern he laid out and the intellectual template he left for modern-day planners remain as relevant and powerful as ever.

The accusation that planners bear responsibility for the building and development sectors’ woes is less a red herring than it is shooting red herrings in a barrel. As a non-planner and as a battler trying to build a house in less-than-ideal planning conditions, I can understand where the frustrated, knee-jerk cry of ‘bloody planners!’ comes from. I also worked for the Property Council for a bit, so I know all too well some of the arguments that can be levelled against the profession. But I also know from these experiences that it’s a bit simplistic – nay, destructive – to blame small group of professionals for all of society’s ills.

When we do have a new planning system in place, planners will have a significant place in it, whether the MBA likes it or not.

It’s almost a sport in South Australia (‘Blame the Planner, 2014 Premiership Cup’) because everyone knows someone who has had a bad experience with the planning system. Granted. But do we blame police for enforcing the law? Some people do, but we frown upon those people for upsetting the status quo. Do we blame air traffic controllers for delaying our flights to protect our safety? Again I’m sure some do, but the silent majority acknowledge that air traffic controllers have stressful, thankless jobs and are grateful that somebody else does it. We all get shirty at the umpire when we don’t like the outcome of our favourite footy code, but we acknowledge – even begrudgingly – that they do important work.

So it goes for planners. Yes, what they do can cause frustration. Not every planner gets it right every time. But the vast majority are doing their best in a difficult job within the many constraints put on them by legislation, regulation, policy, strategy and – in the case John Stokes raises – case law.

Mr Stokes’ point that planners must lift their eyes to the future when making their decisions is one that I agree with wholeheartedly. But I cannot agree that planners are being unreasonable or obstinate when, as members of a trained, respectable and historic profession, they feel they have no choice but to abide by or at least consider the rulings of a higher authority.

Instead of blaming the planner (shooting the messenger, or red herring, as it were) we should be debating what we want our planning system to achieve, what we want it to protect, and what ideals we want it to advance. Then we can work out how to eliminate the bureaucratic barnacles to which Mr Stokes refers. To Brian Hayes’ credit, and to that of his amazing team, who have been reviewing the planning system, that focus has taken the lion’s share of debate in the planning reform process to date. Indeed, while ‘planning culture’ has come up frequently in these discussions, rarely have planners’ core motivations been in question.

When we do have a new planning system in place, planners will have a significant place in it, whether the MBA likes it or not. Planners will continue to offer advice as they believe to be in the best interests of a development, a community, the state. And to some extent they will continue to be hemmed in by the laws that they operate by.

But so long as we have a collective sense of what we want our built environment to look like, planners will continue to advocate for that vision regardless of the roadblocks put in their way or the criticisms levelled at them.

George Inglis is Executive Officer (SA and Strategic Communications) of the Planning Institute of Australia.

 

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