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Armstrong Creek East forms part of the Geelong urban growth area which straddles the Surf Coast Highway and extends to the outskirts of Torquay. Located 8 kilometres to the south of Geelong, the Armstrong Creek Urban Growth Area (ACUGA) is the largest continuous growth area in Victoria comprising 2,500 hectares.  It will become home to about 55,000 people as the key urban extension of Greater Geelong. It will accommodate the major expansion pressures of Greater Geelong for the next 20 years. The ACUGA area consists of seven precincts to be masterplanned on a precinct by precinct basis via the precinct structure planning process. The Armstrong Creek East Precinct (ACEP) which comprises approximately 800 hectares, is the first precinct structure plan to be implemented in the Greater Geelong Planning Scheme via Amendment C206. The ACEP will become a highly sought-after location for living, working and recreation, forming an attractive addition to Geelong.

Collie was appointed by the Armstrong Creek Development Corporation (the Corporation), as one of the key members of the team to work closely with the Department for Planning and Community Development (DPCD), the Corporation and the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG).  Collie provided strategic planning input, prepared the Armstrong Creek East Precinct Structure Plan (ACEPSP) and assisted the passage from exhibition to gazettal as a proactive project team member.  As part of this project eight core ingredients of the ACEPSP have been identified:

• image and character
• subdivision and housing
• community facilities
• public open space and natural systems
• employment and activity centres
• transport and movement
• utilities and energy
• drainage and floodplain management

Integral to the overall vision for this ACEPSP is the creation of Warralily, the attractive and liveable new community which will be drawn together by an association with Armstrong Creek.  Warralily is to comprise:

• about 7000 housing lots; 
• a neighbourhood activity centre of about 10,000 square metres floor space;
• a local activity centre – 1000 square metres;
• 200 hectares of public open space;
• 73 hectares of community facility land;
• 16 hectares of habitat conservation area.
• a retained and enhanced Armstrong Creek public open space corridor.
• a recycled water reticulation system.

An Approval First

This ACEPSP is not only one of the first to be approved outside Melbourne; it is also one of the quickest to be approved in terms of time taken from exhibition to gazettal; and it is recognized as having experienced a very smooth flow through its panel hearing, in direct contrast to what is the general practice.

Setting New Benchmarks in Best Practice and Urban Development

Natural and cultural features will be protected and enhanced to create a distinct urban character including creating ‘green’ cycling and walking links, conserving the indigenous tree communities which will be protected and regenerated and new landscaping and tree planting consistent with the existing landscape while protecting and enhancing areas of environmental significance and areas with recognised heritage value.  Each resident will be within close proximity to public open space; there will be ‘walkable’ neighbourhoods with access to public transport and mixed use activity centres.

Genuine, Open and Constructive Team Work

A significant contribution to the success of the project has been the genuine, open and constructive teamwork between the key participants, especially CoGG, DPCD, the Corporation and the project team.

Armstrong Creek brochure [PDF]
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The brightly coloured playground equipment provides physical, tactile and visual entertainment for children of all ages and abilities.  A number of educational pieces allow for passive play and the ‘village road and shops’ concept incorporated into the design encourages children to role play.  The gardens surrounding the playground extend the exciting play space.  The garden design and plant selection encourages children to explore the gardens and discover the variety of plants.  A ‘secret’ entrance to the playground features mosaic artwork incorporating designs created by the children living and playing in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Tenterfield Playground brochure [PDF]
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Cowra Shire (the Shire) is located in the Lachlan Valley and sits in the heart of country New South Wales. The Shire is situated approximately 300 kilometres west of Sydney and covers an area of 2,800 square kilometres with a growing population of 13,000.  This region supports strong agricultural and rural based industries including horticulture, aquaculture and viticulture. The major urban centre, Cowra Township, is a vibrant and expanding retail and commercial centre and acts as a sub regional service centre within the catchments of the larger regional centres of Orange and Bathurst.

Collie was appointed by the Cowra Shire Council to complete a Land Use Strategy (Strategy) in response to a planning reform initiative of the NSW Department of Planning. The Strategy forms part of a comprehensive process and provides the necessary strategic framework to guide the preparation of the new local environment plan (LEP) for Cowra Shire. The Strategy addresses critical land use planning issues affecting the Shire, including:

• the impacts and implications of Cowra’s future urban expansion – encompassing the residential, industrial and commercial sectors in the Cowra Township and the surrounding villages of Billimari, Darbys Falls, Gooloogong, Morongla, Noonbinna, Wattamondara, Woodstock and Wyangala;
• the competing needs at the rural / township interface – including future residential subdivision in rural areas, appropriate allocation of rural residential land, natural resource management and ecologically sustainable development.

 The Strategy:

• identifies key land use issues;
• identifies opportunities and constraints that will affect future development in the Shire and translates them into a landuse framework;
• incorporates measures to ensure future development in the Shire responds appropriately to the environment;
• develops a set of planning criteria that can be incorporated into the local environment plan;
• includes a series of framework plans to guide future development in Cowra Township, other villages throughout the Shire and rural areas;
• provides an implementation framework.

 The Strategy will ensure that future rural and urban developments are sustainable and compatible with the Shire’s environmental resources and best meet current and future needs of the local communities. The Land Use Strategy provides the necessary strategic framework for the Cowra Shire for the next 25 years and beyond.

Awards

• 2009 Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards:  Local Government Excellence for municipalities with a population of less than 20,000 – Cowra Land Use Strategy
• 2009 Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards:  Runner up Local Government Excellence for Environmental Sustainability – Cowra Land Use Strategy

Cowra brochure [PDF]
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The Sorell Township is a regional gateway to its east, south and west and is situated approximately 30 minutes from Hobart CBD. The Township is encompassed by farmland and characterised by extensive reserves including the internationally recognized wetlands at Orielton Lagoon.  It is a thriving regional town with a unique character and valued heritage. In recent times however the Sorell Council has recognized that before any further township expansion is programmed, significant decisions were needed concerning the master plan and infrastructure requirements.  A comprehensive Urban Master Plan was seen as critical.

Collie was appointed by Sorell Council to complete the Sorell Township Urban Master Plan. Collie identified that future growth required long term planning to reflect the unique identity and gateway setting of the Sorell Township and its central role for the wider regional catchment. In the first instance, background studies were prepared including population and activity centre needs assessments, a community visioning consultation exercise and the preparation of ideas, options and strategies for the Township. As part of the next phase of the strategic planning process, the primary, secondary and tertiary catchments were examined. The Sorell Township Master Plan document provides a physical framework, supporting principles and analysis, to guide land use and transport planning and development of the Township to 2031 and beyond.  Key Master Plan components incorporated include:

• town centre;
• urban landscape and character;
• residential growth and development;
• industrial growth and development;
• transport and movement;
• community Infrastructure;
• environment sustainability;
• urban design initiatives.

 The analysis resulted in the documentation of a set of framework guidelines for each component based on:

• key implementation issues.
• implementation principles.
• recommended actions to implement the principles.

Collie recommended that Sorell Council prepare a program for its officers to monitor the establishment and progressive implementation of the master plan, which would involve reporting back to the Council on an annual basis. In addition to the annual assessments, Collie recommended the Council complete a major cyclical review to be carried out generally on a five year basis.

Sorell brochure [PDF]
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Waverley Park, which was the headquarters and a key football ground of the Victorian Football League (VFL), is situated beside the Monash Freeway about 26 kilometres southeast of Melbourne. The redevelopment of Waverley Park by Mirvac provides for a 1500 lots / 1250 dwellings residential community around an active sports oval, a section of the heritage stadium and associated facilities.  The community hub includes a portion of the original grandstand and oval, with the grandstand converted to house the Hawthorn Football Club headquarters and a range of retail and community facilities. The original stadium around the remainder of the oval was replaced by housing in a form that evoked the original stadium location and form. 

Collie was appointed by Mirvac as its planning consultant for the project. The Collie role included strategic planning, assisting Mirvac with master planning, design guidelines, heritage issues, preparation of Victoria’s first neighbourhood character overlay, rezoning and related statutory documents, permit applications and building envelope plans.

Key challenges in this significant redevelopment project have included:

• retention and utilisation of cultural heritage elements such as the Sir Kenneth Luke Stand;
• key access points and internal roads picking up on components of the original layout and use;
• building design guidelines and envelopes to promote a unique new neighbourhood character;
• the redevelopment / reuse of the very specialised form of the grandstand to enable new and very different commercial, retail and community uses.

Waverley Park brochure [PDF]
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Before the sale of the former brickworks site, Austral Bricks in conjunction with the City of Knox had prepared and exhibited a planning scheme amendment specifying that:

• the majority of the site be Residential 1 Zone;
• an area be set aside for Mixed Use Zone, intended for use as a local shopping centre;
• an environment audit overlay be applied to the site;
• a development plan overlay be applied to the site;
• an ‘urban planning guidelines’ document to guide future development be incorporated in the planning scheme.

Austral Bricks and the City of Knox undertook community consultation associated with the planning scheme amendment, including presentation of the ‘urban planning guidelines’.

Mirvac was chosen as the preferred purchaser of the site.

Collie was appointed by Mirvac to provide specialist development planning advice as to how best negotiate the planning system and how to have the amendment appropriately restructured to suit the preferred Mirvac development model. Collie recommended changes to the initial amendment, in particular the status and content of the ‘urban planning guidelines’ and content of the schedule to the development plan overlay, which were subsequently approved. Collie then assisted Mirvac in obtaining a planning permit for bulk earthworks on the site and prepared an additional planning scheme amendment to relocate the mixed use zone and to increase the amount of floor space.

Development Plan

Collie was then appointed by Mirvac to prepare a development plan for the site. Collie provided advice to Mirvac regarding other specialist reports that were required to form part of the development plan and assisted with the finalisation of these reports for inclusion with the final documentation. Community consultation and liaison with Councillors and Council officers formed an integral part of the development plan preparation. In summary the development plan provides for:

• up to 1000 new dwellings;
• a local shopping centre with a range of commercial uses and up to 1000 square metres of shop floor space;
• development embracing a landscape and public open space ‘spine’ created by a horseshoe – shaped main access road running through the site.

The development plan addresses a number of key concerns including:the management of Stud Road traffic noise through a built form approach;

• appropriate responses to residential interfaces along some boundaries of the site;
• utilising potential views to the Dandenong Ranges;
• the appropriate distributions of public open space;
• introduction of potential future built form outcomes for the site;    
• appropriate management of storm water.

Planning Permit Applications

Working with Mirvac and following detailed discussions with Knox City Council about the preferred planning approach for the site, Collie submitted planning permit applications for:

• the subdivision of stages 1, 2 and 3 (to date);
• multiple medium density housing sites;
• development and use of the local shopping centre.

Building Envelope Plans

Collie has worked closely with Mirvac to prepare building envelope plans and a related Memorandum of Common Provisions (MCP). The MCPs will assist Mirvac and Council to control the nature and appearance of future residential development on the site, providing certainty to future lot purchasers and ensuring a high quality urban outcome.

Approvals

The development plan was approved in 2010, as were the planning permits for subdivision of stages 1, 2 and 3 and the initial planning permits for the medium density housing sites.

Harcrest brochure [PDF]

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Collie was appointed by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to identify the most appropriate planning model for the redevelopment of the site which comprises a number of residential buildings between two and thirteen storeys high.  The proposed redevelopment will involve the:

• retention of the existing thirteen-storey building with 108 dwellings;
• demolition of the four-storey building containing 24 dwellings;
• construction of three buildings between four and ten storeys high containing a total of 188 dwellings – 94 one-bedroom and 94 two-bedroom dwellings;
• construction of a substation;
• provision of car and bicycle parking, including a new crossover to Malvern Road.
• landscaping of various spaces.

The main tasks Collie completed were:

• preparation of planning scheme amendments;
• review and analysis of the applicable planning controls;
• liaison with referral authorities; 
• preparation of the planning report to accompany the redevelopment application.

The planning report concluded that the proposed redevelopment was consistent with the relevant provisions of the planning scheme, including the state and local planning policy frameworks and that the proposal should be supported subject to the requirements and conditions included in the ‘Prahran Precinct Redevelopment Stage 1 – April 2010’.

Prahran brochure [PDF]
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Collie was appointed to be part of a multidisciplinary project team and was charged with preparing the residential masterplan for the development site bounded by Lake Hamilton and its foreshore to the north and northwest and existing residential areas to the west and south. 

Collie developed a masterplan which accommodates a diverse range of lot types and maximises the views of the Lake and the Hamilton town centre. Additional open space was made available as part of this masterplan to complement the existing foreshore area and create a broader dimension to the amenity of the recreational precinct.

Key features of the masterplan include:

• the subdivision of the development site to create a maximum of 320 lots for residential use;
• a range of lot sizes and types;
• the creation of several areas of public open space, approximately 16,000 square metres in total or approximately 6per cent of the area;
• the expansion and integration of the existing Lake Hamilton foreshore area;
• a network of local streets connecting to the existing road systems;
• pedestrian links throughout the development site, connecting to surrounding residential and recreational areas and community facilities;
• a series of wetlands constructed within the site and within the Lake Hamilton foreshore area to control stormwater quantity and quality before it enters Lake Hamilton;
• a substantial number of new trees within the public open space areas, the road reserves and the Lake Hamilton foreshore reserve area;
• the provision of appropriate urban services (water, sewer, electricity and telecommunications) to all residential lots;
• a design which is responsive to the characteristics of the site and the surrounding area.

Southern Grampians Shire subsequently issued a planning permit for this development.

Lake Hamilton brochure [PDF]

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Collie was appointed by Bensons Property Group to provide planning services and specialist planning advice in relation to the major redevelopment of the former Lombards Paper site on Mt Alexander Road Travancore, into a large scale mixed use development with exceptional built form.  The development of the site is in three stages.  Stage 1 is completed and includes two multi-storey apartment buildings, retail frontage to Mt Alexander Road and a large central piazza for use by the public.  Stage 2 is completed and consists of a seven-storey apartment building with commercial uses at lower levels and basement car parking.  Stage 3 which is under construction, consists of a 25-storey apartment building (including above ground car parking) with retail frontage to Mt Alexander Road.  In total the development will provide in excess of 750 dwellings and over 3000 square metres of retail floor space.

 Collie tasks in relation to this project included:

• planning advice regarding the preferred approach to the planning process;
• significant liaison with the client and project team to develop an appropriate proposal for each stage of the development that responded to the site attributes;
• planning advice and assistance in preparing a planning scheme amendment to rezone the subject site and apply appropriate overlays;
• preparation of relevant sections of a development plan for each stage of the project;
• preparation of planning documents in support of the planning permit application for each stage of the project;
• extensive liaison with Moonee Valley City Council before preparation and submission of the planning scheme amendment, development plans and planning permit applications for each stage of the development and throughout the assessment process;
• liaison with the project team to provide advice on the preparation of plans, elevations and other information for endorsement under the planning permit for each stage of the development;
• planning advice during the construction of each Stage of the project, including preparation and submission of applications to amend planning permits for Stages 2 and 3 of the development.

Travancore brochure [PDF]

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Frankston City Council invited tenders for the design, construction and installation of artwork for the Davey Street Bridge which crosses Kananook Creek connecting the Frankston commercial precinct with the foreshore.

In considering a tender response, the Collie urban design team took up the challenge with relish and developed a design response to this brief that proposed to remodel the bridge as a piece of art incorporating elements of the boating environment and boating activities.  Recognising that boating and fishing has always played a large role in Frankston’s sense of community and that these activities have centred on Kananook Creek, our design used evocative boating elements including white posts representing boat masts, sail cloths representing boat sails and vegetated trellises representing boat rigging.

Additionally, to echo the more substantial ocean going ships that head past Frankston on their way to and from the Melbourne Docks, we proposed that the bridge be clad on both sides in corten steel representing a ship ‘hull’ as viewed from the land adjacent to the bridge.  We intended that wave graphics cut into the corten steel along each side of the bridge be illuminated to bring the waves to life at night.  Planter boxes were positioned strategically along the inside of the corten steel ‘hull’ on the pedestrian side of the bridge to represent lifeboats and comprise a vegetative link between the landscapes on each side of the bridge.  Finally, to encourage pedestrians to stay a while and enjoy the views from the bridge, we suggested that seating be interspersed between the planters.

Davey Street brochure [PDF]

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