Matthew James, Science, Technology, Environment and Resources
Section
Balancing the impacts of urban development for an expanding
population gives rise to issues of energy use, land availability,
transport systems and infrastructure planning.
Planning infrastructure: an urban myth?
The past year has seen ‘an elephant enter the room’
of our cities with the sudden increase of Commonwealth interest in
the planning of our major urban metropolitan areas. The Rudd
Government established a Major Cities Unit (MCU), within the
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and
Local Government portfolio. The Council of Australian Governments
(COAG) agreed last December that by 1 January 2012 all
states will have in place plans that meet defined criteria for the
future strategic planning of Australia’s capital cities, and
that Federal Government decisions on infrastructure funding will be
linked to meeting these criteria. In May 2010, the Federal
Government requested the Productivity Commission to undertake a
benchmarking study into Planning, Zoning and Development
Assessments.
Given these federal intentions the Council of Capital City Lord
Mayors released in May 2010 a submission to the Government on
the development of a national urban policy Towards a City
Strategy aiming to secure the productive, sustainable and
livable future of their cities. In December 2009, the Local
Government and Planning Ministers’ Council endorsed purpose,
issue and system principles in their document National Planning
System Principles. These joined such declarations as the 2003
National Charter of Integrated Land Use and Transport
Planning and the May 2007 Planning Institute of Australia
statement on Integrated Land Use and Transport
Planning.
Meanwhile, under review, is the planning of new developments
around airports, where a relaxation of commonwealth control saw a
rise in commercial buildings development. The Australian Greens in
November 2009 announced a policy for sustainable planning and
transport. This includes the establishment of:
- a national report card for development targets and building
standards
- a Sustainability Fund, and
- national urban planning standards.
Energy use in buildings: how many stars?
The Commonwealth has worked with the building industry and the
states and territories on sustainable housing to make new and
existing homes more energy-efficient and water-efficient through
new provisions in the Building Code of Australia. These
came into effect in all states and territories on
1 May 2010.
COAG signed in April 2009 a Memorandum of
Understanding for a National Strategy on Energy Efficiency
followed in July 2009 by the National Partnership
Agreement on Energy Efficiency. COAG agreed that the energy
efficiency requirement of residential buildings would be increased
to a minimum of six stars or equivalent in 2010. This included
energy efficiency requirements for hot water in new houses and
lighting in new houses and apartments.
There has been some concern expressed at the rating software
systems used to assess star efficiency levels and the differences
between actual household energy usage and building energy
efficiency. Industry bodies commissioned studies into the rating
system, finding the software tools unreliable. However, the
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency released a
statement (13 August 2010) disputing this.
The issue of the sustainability of energy supply to our cities
and transport systems is discussed in the brief on Powering
Australia from Renewable Resources.
Future transport systems… for flying pigs?
During the 2010 federal election campaign, the Greens, the
Australian Labor Party and the Liberal National Party Coalition all
announced policy commitments to a feasibility study into an east
coast, very fast train system. As well, plans were advanced for
completion of an inland rail route to serve freight transport. Both
systems have been the subject of prolonged previous studies and
proposals that have mainly stalled.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation’s July 2010
report on The Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Alignment Study found
that an inland route from Victoria, through central and north west
New South Wales, then into Queensland (through the towns of Albury,
Parkes, Narromine, Narrabri, Moree and Toowoomba) has the potential
to reduce the time it takes to move freight from Melbourne to
Brisbane by rail, and to increase the capacity of freight rail
paths between the two cities. Its economic value remains unclear,
but there is demand for the $4.7 billion railway that would
result in a freeing of capacity through Sydney, with a portion of
freight continuing to need and use the coastal railway. The study
suggested re-examining the inland rail project from 2015 to 2020 to
reassess its viability.
The former Very Fast Train proposal and later High Speed Train
plans for passenger services along the east coast have been well
studied since the mid 1980s. So far, no proposal has proven
commercially viable without a significant public sector funding
contribution and/or other forms of financial concession such as for
lands. The last major report was the 2002 East Coast Very High
Speed Train Scoping Study commissioned by the then Commonwealth
Government in December 2000, to conduct a comprehensive
examination of options for a very high speed train network
connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne with major
regional centers along the way. In 2010, the Cooperative Research
Centre for Rail Innovation released a study to synthesise the
current knowledge of High Speed Rail in the Australian context and
to provide directions for further investigation.
There have been various party policy commitments made to urban
light rail transit (LRT) systems, electric vehicle and ‘green
car’ programs, as well as vehicle fuel efficiency and
emissions reduction strategies. The actual appearance of new LRT
and alternative vehicle prototypes in Australian cities seem few
and far between.
Library publications and key documents
Australian Building Code Board (ABCB),
Building Code of Australia, 2 vols, ABCB, Canberra, 2010,
https://www.abcb.gov.au/index.cfm?objectid=959C6DF0-9A12-11DF-A133001143D4D594
Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC),
The Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Alignment Study, ARTC,
Canberra, July 2010, http://www.artc.com.au/Content.aspx?p=175
Infrastructure Australia, State of
Australian Cities 2010, Major Cities Unit, Canberra, 2010,
http://dpl/Books/2010/InfrastructureAust_StateAustCities2010.pdf
M James, The (Green Car) of the
Future, Background note, Parliamentary Library, Canberra,
2009, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bn/2009-10/CarOfTheFuture.htm