PlanningXChange

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/project manager based in the Middle East. Originally from Melbourne Victoria (a graduate of 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 business management experi...

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 potential 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 (previously featured in PX2!). 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 m...

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 had worked in community engagement previously. 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 Federa...

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, Jess and Peter interview a senior manager of the EPA, the State of Victoria's environmental protection authority. The interview was recorded in front of a live audience (a first for PX) at the VPELA State Conference in Lorne. The interview discusses the huge environmental improvements that have been achieved in the past 50 years and describes the role of the environmental protector and ne...

IN PX55, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Sophie Jordan, a Melbourne based town planning consultant. Sophie has considerable experience working across the public and private fields. She brings a new perspective on the challenges and opportunities associated with contemporary city development.

In PX54, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview one of Melbourne's most inspirational urban designers. A professional with a good knowledge of the past and an over the horizon view of future opportunities. Inspired by classical thinkers such as Aristole and on the other extreme the science fiction writer Phillip K Dick, Orlando blends a respect for tradition with a view that 'the future is our fri...

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 farm 'Glenoe' in Western Victoria. The design philosphy behind the label is to create timeless, sustainable, & quality Merino goods. Based in Melbourne Australia the pair are passionate about manuf...

In PX52, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Koos de Keijzer, a leading Australian architect on city shaping and urban development trends.

In PX51, John Henshall discusses his book 'Downtown Revitalisation and Delta Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi - Lessons for Small Cities and Towns'. A great read which provides a template on the revitalisation of urban areas that will be of interest to all planning professionals, city government officials, place makers and those interested in economic renewal. Case studies are provided from the US...

In PX50, Jess and Peter interview Olivia Christie director of Armitage Jones a Melbourne based project management firm. Olivia talks about what makes for a successful project and the desirability of adaptability in managing projects. Interview released May 2019. For more details see www.planningxchange.org

In PX49, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Kate Roffey - 'Director of Deals' at Wyndham City Council. podcast released 10 April 2019.

In PX48, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Cazz Redding of Red Ink Planning. Cazz specialises in providing strategic planning assistance to regional and rural Councils. She talks about her career progression, starting a consultancy and the issues relating to planning for smaller rural areas.

PlanningxChange interview Aaron Organ, ecologist. Aaron works across many aspects of the environment and provides advice to governments, the private sector and not for profit agencies. He talks to contemporary environmental issues, the balancing required between competing planning policies and the loss within many in society with a connection to the natural world. A thought-provoking discussion wi...

PlanningxChange 46 features Doctor Elizabeth Taylor academic and podcaster ('This Must be the Place'). Her first book 'Dry Zones: Planning and the Hangovers of Liquor Licensing History' considers the temperance movement of the late 19th and early 20th century and the campaign for 'local control' of alcohol outlets in Victoria Australia. The author makes the case that these campaigns helped form th...

In PX45, author David Sornig discusses his recently published book 'Blue Lake'. It concerns an area adjacent the Melbourne CBD known for many years as 'Dudley Flats'. This area contained squatter camps, rubbish dumps, noxious industry and the working infrastructure of the metropolis. Originally a place of pristine beauty, hence the title of the book, the area was degraded and became 'the other', a...