Liveable Yarra - planning for the city's future using a deliberative process

Community engagement on planning processes is traditionally adversarial, with residents reacting to a development proposal or local amenity impacts. With the significant increase in inner-urban medium-high density developments and subsequent pressure on physical and social infrastructure, the City of Yarra embarked on a new approach to the rewrite of its Planning Scheme. This paper describes the process by which the City of Yarra involved the community to help address some of the dilemmas and trade-offs which are necessarily part of planning in an inner-urban area. To hear from a broad range of voices and receive informed recommendations, a deliberative process, the Liveable Yarra project was formed. It aimed to have an in-depth two-way conversation with the community about how Yarra can adapt to the challenges and opportunities brought about by growth and change. A 60 member People’s Panel, comprising a cross section of Yarra’s community, came together to learn, debate and provide recommendations to Council on the topics of housing, transport, built form and the local economy. The Panel was supplemented by feedback from a household baseline survey, Council’s Advisory Committees and targeted workshops with hard-to-reach communities. This was the first time a deliberative approach has been undertaken for a topic as multifaceted and far-reaching as rewriting a Local Government Planning Scheme. It allowed participants to gain an understanding of the complexity of planning issues and the challenges this presents to Council decision making. It’s expected that the revised Planning Scheme will more accurately reflect community expectations, improve liveability and enhance community understanding of the complex issues faced by Council in planning the city’s future. Furthermore, in describing this approach, along with reflections from those Councillors, planners and community members involved, we hope to provide a model which other councils could embrace to enhance their existing planning processes.