Beyond the Edge: Australia's First National Peri-urban Conference La Trobe University Oct 2013

1. If planning is everything...
maybe that’s the problem?
Reflections on efforts to protect
agricultural land in Australia’s
peri-urban regions
Peter Houston
“Beyond the Edge”
La Trobe University
October 2013

2. Key messages...
• The failure of planning to support
agriculture in peri-urban regions
– the contradiction between traditional planning
thought and contemporary planning practice
– the role of rural land in metropolitan areas:
insights from theory and research
• The success of “double protection” in
Barcelona (where planning isn’t everything)
• Conclusions and directions

3. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
–
–
–
–
tenets of modern town & country planning
planning education and professional norms
public opinion
planning documents (what they say)

4. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
– managerialism and planning system trends
– COAG criteria for capital city planning
– “Red tape reduction”, “One stop shop”,
“Performance indicators” etc
– metropolitan strategic plans (what they do)
– the case of the Virginia horticultural district

5. Virginia horticulture
district
– Major horticulture ‘cluster’
based on favourable climatic,
soil and water conditions
– Greenhouse, high tech
hydroponic and field
production systems
– $95 million (3%) of total SA
agricultural value (2003)
– $73.5 million (15%) of total SA
horticultural value
– 22% of total SA horticulture
processing value
– Major public and private
infrastructure investment
– Largest concentration of
greenhouse structures in
Australia (700 ha+) and major
site of recycled water use
– Access to a major market and
freight routes
– ‘Drought-proof’ horticulture

6. Metropolitan Adelaide Planning Strategy, 1998.

7. Land zoned for Horticulture in the City of Playford, 2005

8. Late 2004: Inter-modal freight facility and mixed use proposal

9. Late 2005: Northern Expressway and alternative inter-modal site

10. 2006: Buckland Park Country Township proposal

11. 2007: Edinburgh Parks employment lands proposal

12. Early 2008: Expansion of Buckland Park proposal

13. Mid 2008: Urban Growth Boundary shifted west to Expressway route

14. Early 2009: Draft 30 Year Plan nominates growth new urban areas
Buckland Park South, Virginia South and Angle Vale

15. Late 2009: Final 30 Year Plan adds further growth areas
Virginia North and Angle Vale South

16. Early 2011: Minister adds land between Angle Vale and Expressway

17. Mid 2013: Playford Structure Plan adds further urban growth areas

18. Playford Growth Area
Structure Plan, May 2013
– 50% reduction in land zoned
for primary production
without:
– discussion/justification of the
case for departing from the
1998 strategy;
– consideration of the
significance of the Virginia
horticultural district; or
– acknowledgment of the
significance of horticulture
sector to northern Adelaide
– Still ear-marked for
protection and nominated as
“an important feature of
Adelaide's food-bowl”
– But no detail about how that
will happen

19. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
3. An emerging critique: the role of rural land
in metropolitan regions (Bunce 1991)
– “… the inherent conflict between preservational
objectives and the municipal planning mandate.”
– “… agricultural designations tend to be used as holding
categories for future development, while urban-rural
boundaries appear to be devices for phasing
development rather than protecting rural land.”

20. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
3. An emerging critique: insights from Policy
Network Analysis (Bell & Wanna 1992)
– Framework for explaining the fortunes of
- industry sectors (automotive, textiles, tourism, wool) and
- policy agendas (deregulation, trade, industrial relations)
– “Strong” and “weak” policy networks
– Peri-urban regions as a stage for competing sectoral
policy networks...

21. Urban development
policy network
?
• State planning agencies
·
Agriculture policy
network
• Urban land authorities,
?
?
Housing and Infrastructure
Peri-urban
agencies
·
·
·
• Local government
regions
?
·
• Government-industry
coordination committees
·
Peri-urban
land
• Industry lobby groups
?
(HIA, UDIA, PCA, REIA)
·
• Professional bodies (PIA)
?
?
• Commonwealth/State
primary industries agencies
• ABARES/ABS/CSIRO
• Industry lobby groups
(NFF, State Federations,
Producer groups, AFI)
• Industry R&D bodies
(GRDC, Horticulture
Australia, RIRDC)
·
• Agribusiness
• R&D forums
(AHURI, SOAC)
Principal focus:
Metro/urban development
Principal focus:
Major commodity groups/
broadacre industries

22. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
3. An emerging critique
4. Insights from Barcelona: “double protection”
as an antidote to captured planning (Paül &
Haslam-McKenzie, 2013)

23. Parc Agrari
del Baix Llobregat
– Situated in the Barcelona
metropolitan region (5 mill.)
– Approx 3,500 ha including
2,000 ha of farmland
– 621 farms/1,200 farmers
(80% f/t, 20% pt) producing
field vegetables, tree crops,
livestock, greenhouses
– No EU subsidies!
– Consortium of 4 levels of
government (Catalan,
Provincial Council, District
Council, 14 municipalities)
and the farmers’ union
– Land use plan (2004) AND a
Management Plan (2002)

24. Parc Agrari
del Baix Llobregat
– BLAP Management Plan
– Infrastructure and services
for farmlands
– Production and marketing
systems that generate higher
farm incomes
– Farm modernisation and
services to increase viability
– A quality space integrated
with the surrounding natural
environment
– Raise awareness of the
natural and cultural heritage
of the PABL
– Sold almost entirely into
Barcelona’s fresh food
markets and alternative food
networks
– Farmers benefiting from
consumer interest in locally
grown food

25. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
3. An emerging critique
4. Insights from Barcelona: “double protection”
as an antidote to captured planning (Paül &
Haslam-McKenzie, 2013)
– “local commitment to ... governance initiatives are as
important and perhaps more effective than adherence to
narrow government policies and regulations. Land-use
tools are needed, but they are not enough by themselves”

26. 1. Traditional planning thought, the views of
planners and espoused policy
2. Contemporary planning practice, priorities
and paradigms
3. An emerging critique
4. Insights from Barcelona
5. Conclusions and future directions

27. References:
Bell, S. and Wanna, J. (eds) 1992. Business-Government
Relations in Australia, Harcourt Brace, Sydney.
Bunce, M. 1991. Local planning and the role of rural land
in metropolitan regions: the example of the Toronto area.
in van Oort et al. (eds) Limits to rural land use.
Proceedings of an international IGU conference, 21-25
August 1989. Pudoc, Wageningen.
Paül, V. & Haslam-McKenzie, F. 2013. Peri-urban
farmland conservation and development of alternative food
networks: Insights from a case-study area in metropolitan
Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Land Use Policy vol. 30, pp.
94–105.