Planning Xchange

In PlanningxChange Episode 69, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview two local government planners, Meghan Ablett and Emily Cooke. Meg and Em work for the Cardinia Shire Council which is one of the major residential growth areas within the Melbourne metropolitan area. Meg and Em work in 'growth areas' planning that is at the urban edge overseeing the formation of new suburbs and providing the sup...

In PlanningxChange Episode 68, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Clark Davies; an urban planner/masterplan cities project manager based in the Middle East. Originally from Melbourne Victoria (a graduate with the Class of 83' at RMIT), Clark worked locally, then moved interstate and eventually overseas. Clark is a senior executive with a breadth of property development, construction and busine...

In PlanningxChange Episode 67, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Nick Vlahandreas of Mountain Planning. Nick is based in Bright, a mountain town in North East Victoria. He has 16 years experience combining local government and private practice. Nick talks candidly about mistakes he made when first in local government and the lessons he put into practice and by so doing making him a more compl...

In PlanningxChange Episode 66, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Paul Shipp one of Australia's rising urban planning economist stars. It's said economics is essentially half psychology and half elementary school arithmetic with a smattering of statistics. Paul in the interview gives a sense of the abilities of urban economics to harness data to better understand and improve contemporary citie...

In PlanningxChange Episode 65, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism report. This is the first international interview conducted by PlanningxChange! Scott Beyer is an urban affairs analyst based in New York City. He is founder and owner of Market Urbanism Report, a media organization that promotes free-market urban policy. MUR publishes a weekly article, a month...

In PlanningxChange Episode 64, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Tim Biles from Ratio Consultants. Tim has had a long and distinguished career as a lecturer, consultant, advisor and 'creator' of several planning consultancies. We thought Tim would be an excellent commentator on the impacts of Covid 19 and Government retrictions on city life. So many predictions made during the pandemic have t...

In PX63, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Ben Rossiter Secretary and Executive Officer of Victoria Walks. The organisation is a walking health promotion charity managed by an independent voluntary board. The organisation's mission is simple: 'More people walking more every day'. Victoria Walks undertakes research, which informs an ongoing campaign of advocacy and policy work. Ben talks of th...

In PX62, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Jacob Martin (Yarra CC), Calum Douglas and Nicole Neame both working at Baw Baw Shire. The three planners are relatively new to planning and have worked in local government for approximately two years. Nicole has previously worked in community engagement. We ask them about the transition from university into the 'real world', what has surprised them...

In PX61, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Mark Marsden. Mark has had a long and successful career across many sectors of the planning world a particularly unique part is his long association (now publisher)of the Victorian Planning Reports (VPRS). The VPR's and its predecessing versions (AATR's and PABR's) highlighted and summarised decisions of Victorian Planning Tribunal's (and now expande...

In PX60, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell engage in a free flowing discussion with Peter Seamer and Cameron Alderson. Peter Seamer is in a unique position to write about the future of our cities and has achieved one of Australia's most critical analysis of city form in 'Breaking Point : The Future of Australian Cities'. He was the CEO of the Victorian Planning Authority for ten years, the CEO of Feder...

Rob Adams, Director City Design and Projects, City of Melbourne Professor Rob Adams AM is the Director City Design and Projects at the City of Melbourne and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization. With over 46 years' experience as an architect and urban designer and 35 years at City of Melbourne, Rob has made a significant contribution to the rejuvena...

In PX58, the interview subjects are Heather Sherlock and Diego Espinosa. Heather and Diego produce the 'Planners Under the Influence' (PUIT) podcast. Their podcast is about the experiences of planning students at university and interviews with various professionals in the city development space. They have both very recently graduated.  The interview is a lively discussion between planning podcasti...

In PX57, the interview subject is Val Gnanakone, a Director at Old Mile Grid traffic engineers. Val talks about the changing role and focus of the traffic engineering profession in city development. Traditionally viewed as car and truck focused, Val talks of the widening scope of activities. These including making better city spaces by improving mobility options. In the interview we pose the quest...

In PX56, the interview subject is Tim Eaton, Executive Director of Regulatory Standards, Assessments & Permissioning at the EPA, the State of Victoria's environmental protection authority. In recent times, environmental problems have been constantly in the headlines, with a recycling crisis, chemical warehouse fires and general concern about the impacts of a rapidly growing population's waste. The...

Sophie Jordan has been practicing as a qualified urban planner for 20 years, working in both the local government sector and private practice before establishing Sophie Jordan Consulting Pty Ltd in 2012. This breath of experience has allowed her to develop a range of skills including development facilitation, project management, community consultation and preparation of strategic plans. Importantl...

Orlando Harrison is a well experienced (but youthful) urban designer practising in a very contested space. Urban design is the half brother of both architecture and town planning. It straddles both fields but at times lacks certainty as to its legitmacy; neither fish nor fowl. Orlando takes an optimistic approach to the uplift that urban design can provide to citzens not just in the elitist wealth...

McIntyre was founded in 2016 by husband and wife team Ned Scholfield & Raquel Boedo. The pair first started to think about creating their own label after spending a year working together on Ned's family sheep farm 'Glenoe' in Western Victoria.   The design philosophy behind the label is to create timeless, sustainable, & quality Merino goods. Based in Melbourne Australia the pair are passionate ab...

In PX52, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview founding partner, Koos de Keijzer of DKO Architecture. The firm has projects throughout Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. He is a respected architect and urban designer, with a particular strategic understanding of residential design in all its forms. He is driven by a passion to explore new housing types, forms and configurations. This has...

In PX51, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview John Henshall a Melbourne based economist who has recently authored 'Downtown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale Mississippi - Lessons for Small Cities and Towns'. John has previously appeared in PX21 which was released in October 2016. His book is about Clarksdale, a small town in Mississippi, USA and how the local community has revitalise...

In PX50, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview the dynamic Olivia Christie about her role as a project manager on various large scale commercial projects and specialist developments within the hospitality sector. Olivia talks of the importance of team spirit, co-operative engagement with regulators and the benefits of flexibility. She also talks about what she has learn't as a developer of a high...

In PX49, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Kate Roffey who has extensive experience as a CEO and Senior Executive within the commercial, government and not-for-profit sectors. In her current role as Director Deals, Investment & Major Projects at Wyndham City, Kate is focused on the growth of key international and national industry sectors and facilitating investment from both public and priva...

In PX48, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Cazz Redding, Director of Red Ink Planning. Cazz is based in Bright, North East Victoria. She discusses her career progression, starting a business and working 'in the bush'. Podcast released 23 March 2019. Technical production by Zak Willsallen of Complete Podcast Services. For more information visit www.planningxchange.org.

In PX47, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Aaron Organ, Director and Principal Ecologist at Ecology and Heritage Partners. Aaron outlines current ecological issues, technological advancements and how we are better understanding the world around us. He talks to the link between town planning regulations and better ecological outcomes. In the podcast interview, new ideas are discussed on how to...

In PX46, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Doctor Elizabeth Taylor (Liz) about her book, 'Dry Zones: Planning and the Hangovers of Liquor Licensing History' published by Palgrave MacMillan. Liz has used analytical research methods to chart the rise of 'local control' over alcohol outlets and how this in turn led to early forms of what we now known as planning controls. Many of the examples of...

In PX45, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview author David Sornig about his new book 'Blue Lake'. David has researched the history and stories of the former 'Blue Lake', so named for its beauty by early colonists, through the area's spoilation and re-use. Known as 'Dudley Flats' the area adjacent the Melbourne CBD was for many years an 'outside' area with various squatter camps and lower end act...