Urban and Regional Planners
Develop and implement plans and policies for the controlled use of urban and rural land, assess development and advise on economic, environmental and social factors affecting land use.
A tight week on the planning desk
You are a town planner at a regional council, with an application due for a decision and a public meeting this evening. It is Tuesday morning. A developer wants to build a block of units near the river, residents have organised themselves, and a report is due on your manager's desk by Friday.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
We have met every rule in the plan. The delays are costing us money. I would really like to know now whether this will be recommended, so we can tell our investors. Can you give me a hint?
Tell him you can't say yet, explain the steps left and when the report will be ready
Callum is not delighted, but he knows the process and the date. He later tells others the council was clear and fair. Planners cannot pre-judge an application, and say so plainly.
Give an off the record hint that it looks good, to be helpful
Callum tells his investors it is nearly approved. When your report finds a flooding problem the hint becomes a complaint, and your fairness is questioned by both sides.
Stop replying to his emails until the report is done
You avoid saying anything improper, but Callum is left guessing, escalates to your manager and wastes everybody's time. Silence is not the same as being impartial.
You people never listen. We are being told to accept a tower next to our homes, and the flooding last year was awful. Why should we trust anything you say tonight?
Say you understand, explain what the council can and cannot consider, and take her flood concerns down to check
Mrs Park is calmer, but others in the room still feel it was a lot of process talk. Your note about flooding is useful, though people wanted to hear what you will do about it first.
Defend the council by explaining that the process is fair and the rules are clear
The room grows louder. You were accurate, but nobody feels heard, and the meeting ends worse than it began. People hear the tone before the facts.
Acknowledge last year's flooding, say what the report will examine, and give her a date and a name
Mrs Park nods slowly. You have not promised an outcome, but she knows her concern is in the report and who to ask. A few others stay behind to ask questions calmly.
A lot of voters are upset about this one. I would be grateful if your report could lean towards refusal. Surely there are enough reasons in there to make it work.
Agree to emphasise the negatives in your report so the councillor and the voters are satisfied
The report reads one-sided and the developer challenges it on appeal. The council loses time, and your reputation for fairness takes a knock.
Say you will think about it and avoid giving the councillor a clear answer either way
The councillor assumes you will help. When your report is balanced they are surprised and annoyed. It would have been kinder to be clear on the phone.
Say you will assess it on the planning evidence, including the residents' concerns
The councillor is quiet, then says they will wait for the report. You have not given in and you have not been rude. Councillors make the final decision, and your job is to give them an honest assessment.
How it went
Tonight the meeting ends without a winner, and your report still has to go in by Friday. Planning means weighing the needs of neighbours, developers and the future of a place, and often being the one everyone is a little cross with. Could you stay fair when everyone has a strong view?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The childcare centre on Wirra Street
A fictional case set in a local council planning team deciding how land in a growing town is used.
The situation
Sione was the planner assessing an application to build a childcare centre on a quiet corner in the town of Eastbrook. The applicant had met every requirement on paper. But forty residents turned up to a meeting, worried about traffic at pick up time and the noise of children outside. The ward councillor asked Sione to recommend refusal, which would end the argument quickly and make the meeting a lot calmer.
What they did
Sione explained that her job was to assess the application against the town plan, not to count who was loudest. She visited the corner at morning and afternoon peak times, checked the traffic evidence and spoke to the school next door. She then asked the applicant to change the entrance, add a drop off area off the street and plant a fence line. She wrote a report setting out exactly how the issues raised by residents had been dealt with.
How it turned out
The council approved the centre with conditions. Some residents remained unhappy, and two of them made it clear to the councillor. Others told Sione they had not expected their worries to be taken seriously, and a few volunteered to help with the street planting.
What would you do?
- How do you stay fair when a lot of people are telling you what they want?
- What would it be like to be the person blamed when an application is approved?
- How could planners help people understand a plan before they get angry about it?