Planning Services
Overview
The Sustainable Village Project is an innovative two-part project designed to accelerate the adoption of sustainable design considerations into housing and urban development in the region.
The first part of the project, completed in 2007, consisted of an extensive industry consultation program that was delivered under the name ‘The Thuringowa Sustainable Village Project’.
Further explanation and key documents related to the delivery of the first stage of the Sustainable Village Project are provided below.
At the conclusion of the consultation phase, the collective findings, ideas, and suggestions of the participants were compiled and published as Breakthrough Ideas for Sustainable Urban Development in North Queensland.
The Breakthrough Ideas for Sustainable Urban Development resource consists of an industry checklist and supporting documentation, and advises key objectives, practicalities, tips and suggestions for planning, designing, building, marketing and supporting cost competitive, commercially viable, market friendly sustainable homes and urban development in the North Queensland region.
The Breakthrough Ideas resource was publicly launched by Mayor Les Tyrell on 5 November 2007 and is now available both as a resource CD from the Townsville City Council and is also freely available for download from the web.
The second part of the Sustainable Village Project is the tendering of a 1.1 ha parcel of Council owned land for the construction of a small sustainability precinct in Kelso. Click here to find out more.
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The physical vision for the Sustainable Village @ Kelso
It was acknowledged from the outset that essential characteristics of the homes would include:
- Excellent climate responsive design
- A price point comparable to the median mainstream market
- Design elements which enable privacy, but also enhance a sense of community in the street
- Use of alternative building products and materials
- Low running and maintenance costs
- Energy and water efficiency – to achieve consumption less than half that of the average Queensland household
- Features that consider future lifestyles – eg working from home, energy constraints, new technologies
- A safe, healthy and enjoyable home environment
Key parameters of the urban design included that the street and subdivision as a whole be designed:
- For optimum performance in the tropics
- Such that a sense of community, safety and vitality is created
- In a way that integrates the natural and built form
- To provide for services eg electricity, water supply, sewage, stormwater, streetscaping and lighting that are innovative (as practicable)
Useful Planning, Marketing, Design and Education Tools
The following documents were produced by the focus groups and are worth a particular mention as standalone documents in their own right.
For further information contact Planning Services.
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