Street Planning and Design Manual: Scoping Document

Abstract

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia, Queensland (IPWEAQ) is the peak body representing those actively involved in the delivery of public works and services in Queensland. IPWEAQ produces best practice methods, manuals, templates, drawings and procedures to help improve industry standards and reduce duplication and inconsistencies across the sector including ADAC (Asset Design as Constructed), Standard Drawings, Lower Order Road Design Guidelines and Complete Streets. IPWEAQ takes pride in the process it utilises to develop and maintain our peer reviewed Standards, publications and technical guides. Importantly, we involve industry stakeholders from across the state (and nationally where required) to ensure our manuals, Standard Drawings and guides address the needs of both regional and metropolitan communities across Queensland. In 1993, IPWEAQ launched Queensland Streets, a design guideline for subdivisional street works. This document served the development industry well for almost 15 years and was considered the most contemporary street works design guideline available at the time. However, public policy and debate moved rapidly towards ecological sustainability and community building giving rise to a changing environment within the urban development sector. Having regard to this and the State Government’s reform agenda for planning and development outlined in ‘Planning for a Prosperous Queensland’, IPWEAQ launched a comprehensive review of Queensland Streets involving practitioners across Queensland to ensure the revised guide incorporated current Australian and international practices. Complete Streets was launched in 2010 offering contemporary and innovative urban street design guidelines for cost effective and sustainable urban development in Queensland. It is still referred to in many council planning schemes assisting engineers, land use planners and urban designers to plan quality liveable, functional and safe urban neighbourhoods. In 2016, IPWEAQ undertook two surveys of its membership (professionals actively involved in the delivery of public works and services) and key stakeholders about the developing needs in our neighbourhoods, and ongoing complaints from developers who must deal with a range of different guidelines across councils. It also became apparent that in the absence of an industry Standard, councils would develop their own individual guidelines which would create further issues for developers and communities. This led to a comprehensive Discussion Paper from John Derbyshire, FIPWEAQ and the formation of a technical steering committee of recognised leaders in urban design and planning. The Steering Committee has considered the issues to be resolved to future-proof our neighbourhoods and urban precincts and determined that the planning of street networks should be inextricably linked with the land-use planning of the precincts that they serve. Accordingly, the overarching and underlying themes for the manual will be the inter-relationship between the street and adjacent land-uses. The proposed manual will emphasise liveability and quality public realms in the development of urban precincts and can be applied to greenfield and brownfield precincts, as well as individual street development and redevelopment.

Street Planning and Design Manual 4 The proposed Street Planning and Design Manual will be recognised as the most comprehensive contemporary manual for the planning and design of streets in Australia.