Greater Sydney Planning Awards

2021 Greater Sydney Planning Award Recipients

Award 1 - Great Community Collaboration

Winner: Carmen Drive Shops and Reserve Upgrade - Parramatta City Council

On-site community consultation sessions, along with letters and an extensive social media campaign, resulted in the community setting the agenda for the upgrade of the local shopping centre, which saw parking enhanced, provision of a new amenities block and the park upgraded. The panel applauds the collaboration, which not only resulted in new social infrastructure, it also took locals on a journey from 'liveability' to 'lovability,' benefiting locals and businesses alike.

Commendation: Collaboration with Western Sydney's Aboriginal Community for the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan - Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

Award 2 - Place-based Collaboration

Winner: Johnstons Creek Naturalisation - Sydney Water

The panel applauds Sydney Water's focus on 'place' and its engagement with the local community and councils. Using targeted, tailored and multi-platform engagement methods, the project responded to the needs of the local community by incorporating their feedback into the planning, design and construction of the project. The naturalisation project is sensitively done and provides excellent environmental and social outcomes.

Commendation: Randwick Precinct Collaboration Area Zero Emissions Strategy - Randwick City Council

Award 3 - Development Supported by Infrastructure

Winner: The Canopy Lane Cove - Lane Cove Council

The Canopy is a vibrant new community development that has transformed a previous open-air car park into a bold mixed-use precinct which provides important social infrastructure including a village green, playground, performance space, BBQ facilities, water feature and town square with retail opportunities. The Panel applauds this very popular piece of social infrastructure which has improved social connectivity and physical space in the growing Lane Cove village.

Commendation: Maroubra's two million litre stormwater re-use system - Randwick City Council

Award 4 - Great New Place to Live and/or Work

Winner: Darling Square - ASPECT Studios with Lendlease

Darling Square exemplifies urban design excellence and provides a very popular, high quality public domain in a new, dense residential and working environment. The Square provides a finely tuned series of interconnected, safe and vibrant place to live, work, eat and explore. The Panel applauds this project which puts people at the heart of planning, enhancing wellbeing and the social connections of residents, visitors and workers alike.

Award 5 - Planning for Jobs and Skills

Winner: Bankstown and Campsie Master Plans - City of Canterbury Bankstown

The panel applauds Council's inclusive and thorough approach - acknowledging that planning for jobs involves more than just the rezoning of land. The Master Plans are informed by comprehensive engagement with community and stakeholders and underpinned by both an Economic Development Strategy and Night-time Economy Action Plan. Council thereby plans to deliver a mix of initiatives that enhance business attraction and provide public, arts and cultural spaces.

Commendation: Western Sydney University, Bankstown Campus - City of Canterbury 

Award 6 - Great Sustainability Initiative

Winner: Urban Heat Planning Toolkit and Cool Suburbs design support tool - Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils

The Panel applauds this nomination which tackles some of our biggest risks in Western Sydney, namely the detrimental impacts of extreme heat and urban heat on human health, economic productivity, infrastructure resilience and the environment. Through a collaborative, multi-sector approach and underpinned by scientific research, two tool kits have been developed for implementation by local government using a resilience framework and land use planning strategies.

Commendation: Procure Recycled: Paving the Way - Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils

Award 7 - Planning Disruptor

Winner: Future Proofing Residential Development to Climate Change - Waverley Council

In partnership with DPIE, three Sydney Local Councils, the Commonwealth Department of Industry, CSIRO and WSP Consulting tackled the impacts of climate change on residential housing in Sydney's Eastern beaches. Through research it shows that building controls based on historical climate records are undermining the resilience of residential development and threatening the safety of communities. Testing of recently completed compliant dwellings failed regulated thermal comfort requirements for cooling by 2030, with more extreme failure resulting in subsequent decades. The overarching recommendation is to design for a hotter climate right now using future climate data files to update planning instruments.

Commendation: Planning for net zero energy buildings - City of Sydney

Award 8 - City Shaping during COVID-19

Winner: Economic and Social Recovery Program - Georges River Council

Georges River Council's approach to COVID Recovery was insightful, strategic and comprehensive. While most Councils were proactive in their response to local challenges, the Georges River Council was guided by their Economic and Social Recovery Plan which delivered outstanding results. During shutdown, Council used the Australian Business Register to communicate and engage with local businesses, providing immediate targeted support. And by prioritising the needs of the community, this comprehensive program addressed immediate and future needs while complementing existing State and Federal Government initiatives. This work forged partnerships with local business which will have a positive flow-on effect for the community and local enterprise for years to come.

Commendation: Sydney's Pop-up Cycleways - Transport for NSW

Commendation: "Alfresco City: COVID-19 Temporary Alfresco Dining Project" and "Open and Creative Planning Reforms" - City of Sydney

Award 9 - Chief Commissioner's Award

Winner: NSW Spatial Digital Twin - NSW Department of Customer Service

The Spatial Digital Twin is a new digital approach that will transform how we imagine, plan and manage our cities into the future. Not only will it help NSW Government and local councils plan for, manage and maintain their assets, it maps environmental data from new sensor networks in real time and supports planning processes at a local level.

Developed in partnership with CSIRO's Data61, this digital ecosystem comprises 3D/4D foundation spatial data, a spatial collaboration portal for search and discovery, and an open-source visualisation service.

The project has demonstrated new capabilities to connect live data such as transport feeds and integrate architecture, engineering and construction data, including building information models. Further, the project also provides ground-breaking opportunities for new methods of public consultation.