The new Street Design Manual: Walkable Neighbourhoods – developed by the Queensland IPEAW in collaboration with the Queensland Government – provides a guide to plan and deliver Queensland neighbourhoods with an emphasis on sense of place and community.
As part of a growing international movement that aims to make neighbourhoods more walkable – and climatically sustainable – the guide provides a valuable resource in supporting active and healthy communities for the future.
However, as a neighbourhood or residential developer, you may be considering how the Amendment Regulation will impact your developments into the future. Here we outline the impacts from a landscape design perspective.
Amendment Regulation Standards
For new residential developments, the Amendment Regulation sets a minimum standard as part of new subdivisions. Below are a few key items in this document which are now mandatory provisions for new developments which will have a large impact on the way we design new subdivisions. These are;
1. Connectivity for pedestrians through a grid-like street pattern that is responsive to site constraints.
2. Maximum block length 250 metres.
3. 90% of blocks are within 400m of an existing or planned bus (or other public transport) stop.
4. Blocks within 400 metres of a park or open space and revised open space requirements.
5. At least 1 tree per 15 metres on both sides of each new street.
6. Footpaths on all streets and both sides of higher order streets.
7. Localised lot boundary realignment to assist retention of existing vegetation or to facilitate large tree-planting adjoining street landscaping.
The new Amendment will impact your development planning in terms of:
- Logistics
- Character
- Street lighting
- Underground services
- Costs
The benefits to you as a developer
The new legislation comes from two rounds of public consultations, with over 20,000 pieces of feedback received1. Communities, local government and the development industry all strongly support it. This support can result in positive sales impact to your development, with residents placing preference to developments that strongly embrace these benchmarks.
With climate change high on the agenda of our communities and the design of our future cities, the impacts of implementing this initiative will be ongoing. Without it, the physical and mental health of our community will be impacted. We will be more reliant on cars, limiting the biodiversity of an area, increasing in the heat island affect
Implementing the landscape benchmark in your neighbourhood development
To ensure this benchmark can be achieved in a cost-effective way for your development, early integration of consultant services will be required across:
- Landscape master planning and design
- Infrastructure planning
- Urban and Town planning
- Engineering
This approach will ensure the landscape planning and implementation will be completed once, with issues clearly identified early in the design process and associated costs savings taken advantage of.
If you would like to discuss the new Street Design Manual and how it can be successful implemented in your development, contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.