COUNCILLORS hope an agreement signed with a professional development lobby group will lead to a better standard of building in the Redlands.
Redland City Council and the Urban Development Institute of Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will set up talks with the institute’s Redland Advisory Panel.
Deputy mayor Wendy Boglary said it was hoped that with the two groups working together, the talks could help iron out tricky development and design issues before they arose.
UDIA staff would be able to advise council on the latest planning issues and lead workshops to explain details when planning provisions were amended at state level.
UDIA research on national and regional planning issues such as housing demand could also help in planning and ultimately deliver better outcomes.
Cr Boglary said minutes and agendas of meetings would be published so there could be no inference that developers were dealing behind closed doors with councillors.
“The UDIA has been open to this idea as have local developer representatives,’’ she said. “I see this as a way of talking things out to get better outcomes.’’
Mayor Karen Williams said the advisory panel was one of 11 local UDIA branches spanning 18 local governments and representing the industry perspective on issues like local infrastructure, the economy and creation of new communities.
“These are all matters of vital community interest as we look to our own new city plan for the next decade and respond to the influence and direction outlined in the state government’s SEQ regional plan and planning policies,” Cr Williams said.
Cr Boglary said access to on-ground expertise coupled with a powerful and respected industry voice could help council lobby government on issues like roads’ infrastructure.
“Through open collaborative communications differing community views can contribute to better Redland results,’’ she said.
“The MoU ensures the highest level of openness, transparency and accountability underpins all interactions between our two organisations.”
UDIA Queensland president Stephen Harrison said that until now the Redlands had been the only south east Queensland council not covered by such an arrangement.
"I would like to thank the Deputy Mayor Cr Wendy Boglary for introducing this opportunity,’’ he said.
“...Based on our experiences working with other councils across SEQ and the state, enacting a formal MoU between local government and local branches offers numerous benefits.’’
Cr Boglary said the agreement and working group membership would be published.
