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As residential developers, we finance and manage the design and creation of communities and then move on. When we move out, the local authority moves in. Given that it is usually the local authority that grants approvals, we must be conscious of the long-term impacts our developments are likely to have and endeavour to match these divergent interests. For our 1,500 lot residential development at Henley Brook in Western Australia we have commenced a process called 'back-casting' - an exercise aimed at establishing how a sustainable community will look in 2036 and linking this vision to a strategic plan that defines what we, as developers, should be doing to help achieve the desired future community. Back-casting can help to identify and address potential social and environmental infrastructure issues. For example, a development might be designed to appeal largely to young couples without kids, but with changed demographics in twenty years time, it might be home to young families with children. The exercise is only in its early stages but we are already finding that it is helping us identify a range of opportunities and enhancing our relationships with regulatory and planning authorities. |
