City ‘right’ for new urbanism

NEW urbanism may not be for everyone but the developers and Wodonga councillors involved in a study tour to Perth earlier this month say there is certainly a place for it when planning for the city’s future.

Cr Anna Speedie said Wodonga could learn from 10 to 15 years of development under new urbanism principles in Western Australia.

“A lot of what we saw was definitely applicable and we have the benefit of being able to learn from others’ experiences and sometimes mistakes.”

Cr Speedie said the Perth tour was valuable in comparison with visits to other new urbanism projects on the east coast because of the scale of the developments.

“Other developments in Melbourne are not as well advanced and they have not embraced the principles as well.

“This is a completely different way of seeing it.”

Cr Brian Wicks said new urbanism offered a different style of future development for Wodonga and among the highlights had been the opportunity to meet with some of those who lived in the Perth developments.

He gave the example of one resident who had bought his second home in one of the developments based on the connectivity of community it offered.

“It won’t suit everyone but perhaps it should be aimed at the baby boomers who are looking for these kinds of communities,” he said.

“Wodonga will still have land available for developers who don’t want to do this but new urbanism will offer another choice and a choice we have not had before.

“It has relevance to what we are doing in the city’s CBD, and Leneva will give us the best opportunity to create this kind of city because it is a green field site.”

Ken Harrison, managing director of Collinsbank, which is involved in the redevelopment of the Leneva Valley said Wodonga council was on the right track by adopting new urbanism.

“I felt the study tour was a further great eye-opener in terms of new urbanism and how it can be successfully adapted to Wodonga,” he said.

“Land values in Wodonga have increased but the models shown to us in Perth included housing at a higher density but at an affordable cost which will be of huge benefit.”

Source: The Border Mail

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