Tag Archives: Wise Earth

Swanbourne Village Trust (SVT) Project gets Green Light

On Tuesday 26th of May, the Town of Cottesloe’s Council agreed to go to advertising for the Swanbourne Village Trust scheme amendment by a majority vote of 5 to 3. Arguments for and against were debated; with Cottesloe Mayor, Jo Dawkins, voting for the project. Ms Dawkins gave an enthusiastic endorsement of the SVT design merits as well as having an architect of Garry Baverstock’s reputation behind the submission.

Prior to the vote on Tuesday, unit holder Katherine Kalaf studied the Town of Cottesloe’s Strategic Plan (2013) in detail to see how the SVT project fulfilled the long term objectives of the plan. The SVT project was found to comply very well in all aspects to the desired direction the council wished to take, especially as this project was situated very near a major railway transport hub.

SVT unit holder, Katherine Kalaf

SVT unit holder, Katherine Kalaf

SVT and Town of Cottesloe’s Strategic Plan

Specifically; in regard to ‘THE COMMUNITIES VISION AND ASPIRATIONS’, the Council’s mission is articulated as:

“In future, some development and redevelopment is likely to occur with smaller lot sizes and additional medium density housing occurring in areas with appropriate density coding. Redevelopment of older townhouse complexes and multi-level flats should result in more choices in housing style and size. “

Certainly, the SVT project will provide more housing choice with state of the art sustainability credentials.

Secondly, with regard to “UNDERPINNING SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES”, the Council states:

 “Under legislation, Council is required to meet the needs of current and future generations in a sustainable way. In carrying out its functions, the Council is committed to four interconnected principles of sustainability:

  1. Sustainable development: To embrace and integrate sustainable development principles including social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects when planning for the district.”

 

Wise Earth is a leader in sustainable development and the SVT project fulfils the legislative requirement of addressing the changing needs of the community. The trend for living today is to move from large suburban blocks and be part of denser living close to all the amenities such as rail, shopping nodes and the lifestyle amenities which residents have enjoyed all their lives. With younger people, many are also opting for smaller lot sizes and grouped living.

 

The Strategic Plan further states:

“The priorities and objectives contained in this plan reflect areas Council will concentrate on in the short to medium term that have the potential to impact on how the district develops.  Within each objective there are sustainability implications. This means that in moving forward, the Council will be faced with the question “what is sustainable for the long term?”

The SVT project addresses the trend to increase medium housing density at rail and commercial hubs. In other Australian cities such as Melbourne, this has been effectively addressed for some time and has been expressed as a goal by the State Government. Planner Peter Newman has been instrumental in encouraging this option as a sustainable solution to housing pressure in towns such as Cottesloe.

“Care must be taken that the pressure for denser development does not destroy the casual relaxed lifestyle, the character of the beachfront and the green leafy neighbourhood and unduly affect the amenity and ambience enjoyed by residents.”

 

On this aspect, Katherine goes on to say

“Our project sensitively addresses these concerns by reducing the bulk of the building and referring to an adjacent building form for scale while not overshadowing or unduly causing problems with height for neighbours.

I feel our project anticipates and addresses a number strategic goals in the council’s strategic plan.

  • Development at railway and commercial nodes.

  • Sustainability.

  • Energy efficiency.

  • Green spaces.

  • Anticipating and responding to the needs of the community.”

 

The proponents of the SVT project; some who will live in the development when finished; wholeheartedly support the Cottesloe Council’s Strategic Plan ethos and look forward to providing an innovative, sustainable development that all will be proud to see when completed in Cottesloe.

Photo Credits; Nick Melidonis, www.nickmelidonis.com

Wise Earth, helping to make Australia a Leader in Innovation

Built Environment Innovation Network

Wise Earth has initiated the Built Environment Innovation Network which will be chaired by Garry Baverstock. Taking the form of a closed door, round table discussion; it will focus on exploring the future of innovation for the construction industry in Western Australia and Australia generally. Attending will be representatives from various divisions of the Institute of Engineers; architects and also materials suppliers with leading names such as Boral; BHP and Alcoa together with some representation from State government.

The agenda will focus on how to move forward on sustainability and energy efficiency in the built environment. Wise Earth is a sponsor of Innovate Australia and Garry is the founding director.

Wise Earth-Good research is the first step

Wise Earth- Good research is the first step

Outcomes synthesised from these discussions will be a catalyst for future public meetings where interested parties can attend to listen to relevant speakers that can outline the vision created at the round table discussions. These will be free talks aimed at informing and inspiring participants about the direction of innovation for the next 5 years with the aim of making Australia the number one country in innovation in the world.

Australia’s Innovation Ranking

Australia is currently ranked 15th in innovation and this initiative will aim to improving that ranking to 10th in five years and first after 15 years.

Photo Credits: Nick Melidonis, www.nickmelidonis.com