SESSION 9.1 – FACETS OF COMMUNITY,
INFRASTRUCTURE & SOCIAL IMPACTS
Copyright 2011 Dee Elliott
Elliott Whiteing
Defining Social Infrastructure
1. Community services – such as emergency accommodation,
employment support, library services, respite care, counselling
and community health
2. Community facilities and public spaces – such as community
centres, hospitals, libraries, parks and cultural venues
3. Networks and relationships that connect organisations, groups,
people and communities, and that support participation in
decision making and opportunities for people to be active in their
communities - such as community groups, recreation and
sporting clubs, cultural and neighbourhood groups (local social
capital)
Importance of Social Infrastructure
1. Human values: Essential for the health, learning, social
wellbeing and economic prosperity of communities
2. Social Cohesion: Key role in developing community life,
including social support and resilience
3. Economy: Reduces health and social costs (e.g. crime)
associated with social isolation and family stress
4. Place making: Provides public spaces to bring people together –
creates ‘sense of belonging’ to place and community; builds
social cohesion
5. Liveability: acts as a magnet for investment and growth
Not just social:
Roles in avoiding external diseconomies
The economic costs of not providing suitable social infrastructure
are clear:
• the economic and social costs to ‘fix’ things in the future must
continue to be borne by future generations
• without suitable social infrastructure it is likely that many
suburbs will not achieve anticipated values
• lower values = less rates = budget problems
• risk of future ‘slums’ (locational disadvantage)
Pressures on Social Infrastructure in SEQ
1. Growth across SEQ, and particularly coastal and rural fringes
2. Existing communities affected by dramatic growth and changes in
population without adequate social infrastructure is leading to
community stress is places like Gold Coast & Caboolture
3. Isolation at the urban fringe in places like Deception Bay,
Woodridge, Beenleigh and Eagleby
4. Loss of existing affordable housing stock to urban infill/TODs
Pressures on Social Infrastructure in SEQ
5. Social infrastructure has not kept pace with growth – it does not
always follow development
6. Significant and growing proportion of vulnerable one person
households
7. Incremental piecemeal development & sprawl inhibits coordinated provision of social infrastructure
8. Uneven community service provision between old & new suburbs
9. Few large/multi services in centres with < 100,000 people : poor
spatial planning in the outer suburbs
South East Queensland Regional Plan
(2009-2031)
Typical Gaps
• Family support
• Public & active transport
• Disability access
• Services and facilities which promote:
1. Inclusion (homeless shelters & services)
2. Cohesion (community development activities & centres)
3. Different cultures and economic groups (arts, festivals &
multi culturalism)
• Youth services and facilities
• Care & inclusion options for seniors –activities & participation
SEQ IPP (2007-2026)
SEQ Guideline Number 5 &
Its Significance
1. Non-statutory planning guideline to aid Queensland Government,
Local Governments and non-government entities in delivering
social infrastructure in a land use planning context
2. Planning mechanism that infrastructure providers can use to
assist in their planning
3. State & National PIA awards in 2007-8 for Excellence in Social
& Community based Planning
4. http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/resources/guideline/ImplementationGui
deline5.pdf
Implementation Guideline Number 5:
Social Infrastructure Planning
SIP Guideline No. 5: Contents
• Section 1: Introduction
• Section 2: Regional Planning context - trends, challenges,
planning framework
• Section 3: Social Infrastructure Planning Framework process,
typologies and hierarchy of provision -Central Place Hierarchies &
Activity Centers Networks, etc
• Section 4: Participation
• Section 5: Profiling
• Section 6: Analysis and Assessment
• Section 7: Planning considerations
• Section 8: Provision and Implementation - funding context, links to
statutory planning mechanisms, and other delivery mechanisms.
• Section 9: Resources
Outline of SIP Process
Participation
Profiling:
- Demographics
- Settlement Patterns/catchments
- Social Infrastructure
- Community needs
Analysis & Assessment:
- Analyse profiling inputs
- Spatial Analysis
- Comparative rates of provision & desired standards of service
- Gaps in existing supply & future needs
- Validate findings
Provision & Implementation:
- Roles & responsibilities
- Strategies & action plans
- Links with statutory planning & delivery mechanisms
- Funding options
- Monitoring framework
Spatial Implications & Outcomes
• Urban form – shape, density, connections, features
• Centre hierarchy – local/district/city/regional
• Settlement pattern – rural, (sub)urban, peri-urban, metro
• Catchments
1. Neighbourhood
2. Local
3. District
4. Regional/sub-regional
Typical Planning Context
Regional Plan population
targets by local government
areas
Priority Infrastructure Plan
Social Infrastructure Plan
LGA structure plans
Place Project
Potential Infrastructure Agreements
Compliant LGA Planning Schemes
Other plans, strategies and policies
Centralised Model for Educational Provisions in a
Developed Country
Scale
Facility
Neighbour
Hood (500 –
1,000 people)
Preschool
Child Care
centre &
Kindergarten
(2- 5 years)
Locality
(4,000 – 6,000
people)
Links
Indoor/outdoor play space
Corner shops
Primary School Public transport access (bus stop
(normally 5 -11 or community transport drop off)
year olds)
Active transport system
(pedestrian/ cyclist priority path
systems)
Local park/ recreation area
Local medical centre
District
Secondary
Public Transport Interchange,
(10,000 -15,000 School
Active Transport network focus
people)
(normally 12District Community Service Centre
17 year olds)
( local government services)
District health clinic
Size & Governance
20 -30 places.
User committees
Parents & teachers circle
400 – 600 pupils
School Board, Parents & Citizens
Committee /
Parent Teachers Association.
Government Department of
Education
1,000 – 1,500 students
School Board, Parents & Citizens
Committee
Parent Teachers Association
Government Department of
Education.
Town/ Suburb
(40-100,000
people)
Vocational
Education &
Training (VET)
(normally 17-25
year olds)
City Business centre
Public transport focus
Urban Region /
City
(250,000 –
500,000
people)
Regional
Cultural Center/Library/ Museum
University Campus Mass transit & Active Transport
(18-28 year olds) network hub.
Regional Health Centre
Municipal/ Regional Council main
offices
Inner city accommodation
10,000 - 20,000 full and part time,
undergraduate and post graduate
students.
University Academic Council
involving government, industry,
professions, staff & student
representatives.
Regional &
National scale
catchments
2 – 10 million
people
Major metropolitan
/ national
university.
National Research
Institute
40,000 – 100,000+ students.
University Academic Council,
involving government, industry,
professions, staff & student
representatives.
State/ provincial government,
business and cultural center
Focus of national and
international networks of land air
and sea transport .
1,000 - 2,000 full and part time
Technical & Further Education
(TAFE) students
Joint Industry, staff & student
Liaison Committee
BUZZ PAIRS
1. Choose a type and instance of social infrastructure that you
particularly advocate for some community and explain to your
partner why and where you would propose that it be
implemented.
2. Think of ways that it should be funded and how it should be
administered ( commonwealth, state or local government/
business/ community/etc)
Social Infrastructure Planning
Stage 1: Inception & Objectives
Stage 2: Profile & Audit
Stage 3: Needs Analysis
Stage 4: Options
Stage 5: Validation
Stage 6: Draft Plan & Review
Stage 7: Phased Plan
Key Considerations
1. Defining communities and boundaries
• Centres & peripheries
2. Linking dispersed communities
• Co-location and synergies - hubs, networks & corridors
• Transport access
3. Place making
• Enhancing sense of community, heritage, identity
• Inclusion
4. Meeting changing needs
• Housing and support options
• New models of delivery & involvement
Stages (Often done best in parallel)
•
•
Define catchments, boundaries & hinterlands
Population analysis and mapping
•
Consultation with communities & providers
•
Audit and analysis of existing social infrastructure
•
Development of a planning model & framework
•
Needs analysis
•
Benchmark analysis ( comparative standards)
•
Determine social infrastructure requirements
- What are the critical gaps?
- Who should be involved in delivery?
Focus on Needs Analysis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Describe existing provisions by catchment & sector
Establish existing & future population size & features
List types of Provision – existing or comparative
Negotiate benchmarks or desired standards
Compare existing to desired standards/ benchmarks
Identify gaps, by period
Identify facility needs
Validate findings through consultation
Consult on options
Integrate into strategic/community plan
LEVEL
FACILITY
BENCHMARK FOR PROVISION
(# PER POPULATION)
Local Community Meeting Room/Clubhouse/Neighbourhood
House
1:2-3,000
Multi-purpose Hall/local Community Centre
1:6-10,000
Childcare centre (long day care)
RESPONSIBILITY
Council/private
Council
Council/Private
Kindergarten
1:5-7 children 0-4, or
1:4-8,000
1:7,500-10,000
Primary School
1:7,500
State
1:20-50,000
Council
High School
1:20,000
State
Youth Facility/Service
1:20,000
Council/State/others
Branch Library
1:15,000-30,000
Council
Aged Care Facility
1:10-20,000
Neighbourhood Centre (may act as community centre) 1:20-30,000
Council/C'wealth/other
s
State
Community Health Centre
1:20-30,000
State
Police and Emergency Services
1:25-30,000
State
TAFE Campus
1:30,000
State
District Multi-purpose Community Centre
Private
Practitioner’s Hints:
Creating Community Facilities Inventories
1. Don’t collect too much detail that may become time-damaged
2. Where possible, ground-truth facilities from looking at land use
and rates data bases
3. Avoid long questionnaires
4. Provide guidance in the survey form on how to estimate the
catchment area/ threshold of the facility
5. Indicate levels of use, but don’t get bogged down – just estimate
if a centre is used at e.g. 50% capacity
6. Design the survey form so that it can be entered into a simple
data base
Typical Benchmark –
Facilities for Young People
• Benchmark 1: 20,000 – 50,000 people (Local or district)
• Floor area
- Local – 200 – 400 m2 (plus outside space)
- District – 600 – 1000 m2 (plus outside facilities)
- Sub regional 1100 – 1500 m2 (part of community centre or hub)
• Site area
- Local – 800 m2
- District – 5,000 – 10,000 m2
- Sub regional – 10,000 – 20,000 m2 (multipurpose, iconic,
potentially private funding)
Benchmarking Analysis –
Example for Community Activities & Meeting Spaces
Facility type
Regional
community centre
Regional human
services hub
District community
centre
District community
hub
Local level facilities
Community
meeting
room/hall
house
Existing
facilities
Number of additional facilities proposed
Nil
Total
SIP study
area
1
Nil
1
1.25
4
1
2
7
15.5
Area 1
Area 2
Area 3
Area 4
Area 5
1 (2011)
1 (2011)
1 (2011)
1 (2021)
1 (2016)
0.5
(2021)
0.5
2016)
1.5
(2015,
2021)
0.5
(2018)
1.5
(2008,
2020)
2
(2009,
2016)
1
(2015)
2
(2010,
2021)
1
(2011)
3
2010,
2011 and
2016)
4
(2009,
2010,
2014,
2021)
1
Service Needs – 1. Children & Families
1. Need for Antenatal and post-natal care continuum
2. Community participation options for families with children with
disability
3. Intervention services for child protection
4. Mediation services for group conflicts
5. Supported accommodation
6. Access to refuge & short-term housing for people escaping
domestic violence
Service Needs – 2. Young People
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Integrated support service for young parents
Place and space to flourish
Community based mental health services
School to work pathways
Alcohol & drug harm minimisation programs
Suburb-based recreational programs
Public and community transport
Service Needs –
3. Seniors & Community Development
• Seniors
1. Community transport
2. Health service access
3. Day and overnight respite
4. Local services to enable ageing in place
• Community development
1. Building links between people
2. Enhance awareness of support and participation options
3. Assistance with fundraising, grant applications &
volunteer support
Implementation
1. Review of existing facilities, services and opportunities
2. Strategies for delivering upgraded/new facilities/services
3. New facilities to be built by Council-Community-Government
partnerships
4. Hubs and combined facilities
5. Develop and pursue funding & implementation options
• Identify local & regional partnership opportunities
• Ensure findings inform planning across a range of agencies
• Draft standards to inform city/Council-wide social
infrastructure planning
6. Establish frame for ongoing evaluation, reflection & review
Conclusions
• The physical infrastructures of roads & rails, water and power
supply & the Internet are basic to the physical and financial capital of
societies’ material consumption & exchange.
• The social infrastructures of health, education, community life
underlie the social capital of human energy, knowledge, and capacity
for collaborative activity and production.
• Although fundamental to the creation of wealth and material
progress, social infrastructures are less apt to be readily bought and
sold. They therefore require public and community provision or
incentives, which brings them to the forefront of concerns of urban,
regional and community planning.
Impact Assessment – SIA Purpose
Reason: resulting from a proposed action, intervention or social
change process,
Process: identify, analyse and manage potential changes to the
social environment,
Aim: to evaluate desirability of proposal and/or create a more
sustainable human environment.
Typical Statutory Requirements –
Environmental Impact Statements
• Project of ‘State significance’ - State Development & Public Works
Organisation Act 1971
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) required;
- Terms of Reference publicly notified: example of Cross River Rail in
Brisbane
- Draft EIS reviewed & submissions received from public notification
- Co-ordinator General or Commonwealth Minister for Environment
reviews EIS & submissions (Traveston Crossing Dam)
- Supplementary Report (finalising EIS) issued
• DERM process – requirements similar
• Evaluation Report (CoG or DG DERM)
- May include conditions, EIS may not be accepted
• Commonwealth (EPBC) assessment and approval if referred
Study Area & Stages
Three levels:
1. Primary study area - detailed
2. Adjacent communities – some detail
3. Regional – overview
Address, as per terms of reference:
1. Construction
2. Operation
3. Decommissioning
Levels of Engagement
1. Information – good for capacity building, helping people
understand the issues but no certainty of influence over decisions
2. Consultation –highly defined, often submissions based, gives
ability to comment on a proposal but possibly not to change it
3. Active participation - two way exchange of information – more
common in SIAs than EISs
Principles of Engagement
1. Involvement of all directly and indirectly affected stakeholders
2. Clarity in objectives, parameters, practices and outcomes
3. Honesty, and evidence-based information sharing
4. Openness and accessibility between stakeholders and project
decision makers
5. Responsiveness to the social and cultural circumstances of
stakeholders
6. Consistency, care and respect in working with stakeholders and
documenting their views
7. Excellent documentation of process and outcomes.
Social Terms of Reference
Impacts on...
• Community life & characteristics
• Availability and cost of housing
• Workforce characteristics and labour force
• Community infrastructure and services
• Social amenity and activities
• Access and mobility
• Local community values, vitality and lifestyles
• Public health and safety
• Landowners and workers
• The integrity of social conditions
Economic Terms of Reference
1. Significance in the local and regional economic context
2. Extent to which local and Australian goods and services will be
used
3. Short and long term beneficial and adverse impacts
4. Occupational skill groups and potential skill shortages
5. Needs for skills training
6. Need for any additional infrastructure provision by government
7. Implications for future development in the local region
Cultural Heritage ToR
• Aboriginal cultural heritage values and environmental values of the
cultural landscapes
• Non-indigenous cultural heritage values including heritage assets
• Significance of cultural heritage values likely to be affected
• Objectives and practical measures for protecting or enhancing
values
• Preparation of a Cultural Heritage Management Plan
Process – 5 Steps
1. Scope the potential effects
2. Describe existing environment (baseline)
a. demographic and socio-economic factors
b. social infrastructure and housing supply
c. community values
3. Predict, assess and evaluate potential changes to the social
environment
4. Evaluate significance
5. Develop strategies to avoid, reduce or mitigate potential impacts
and maximise benefits
Process – Community Input
•
•
•
•
•
•
Meetings
Workshops
Survey
Analysis of submissions
Consultation
Agency interviews
SIA Studies: Elements
• Baseline assessment
• Social infrastructure analysis
• Community and stakeholder engagement
• Ethnography
• Impacts on Indigenous communities
• Social infrastructure analysis
• Housing and population analysis
• Economic analysis
Aspects of the Social Environment
Population size or characteristics Access and mobility
Access to community facilities
Community health/ well being
Community participation/ vitality/ Recreation activities or places
sense of community
Economic development
Employment access
Daily life, or lifestyle
Places of value
Health
Community safety
Evaluating Impact’s Significance
1. Positive or negative (effect/direction)
2. Likelihood (not likely, possible, likely, certain)
3. Short or long term (duration)
4. Big or small (magnitude)
5. Local, regional, greater (scope)
6. Effect on social indicators (equity)
Social Indicators
1. Changes to socio-economic characteristics (e.g. age profile,
employment)
2. Access to social infrastructure (e.g. facilities provision and
demand)
3. Changes to health status (e.g. hospital admissions, reported
mental health status)
4. Connectivity (e.g. directness, safety, travel time)
5. Social capital (e.g. mutual effort for common good, networks and
trust)
6. Community safety (e.g.. harmony, crime)
Mitigation
• Avoiding impacts
• Managing potential effects
- Environmental objectives
- Strategies
- Measures
- Monitoring
• Redressing negative effects
• Maximising benefits
- E.g. local skills for employment
Typical schedule
Scoping
June
Analysis and impact assessment
July - September
Mitigation
October
Draft EIS
November
Draft EIS on display
February-March
Analysis of submissions
April
Supplementary EIS
May-June
CG Report and EPBC assessment
July