Humanities and Social Sciences

Planning

Research

1. The planning program at the Bendigo campus of La Trobe was invited by RMIT and Griffith Universities to be part of a submission for funding from the Carrick Institute for a national research project on work practices and placements in respect to planning students. Having a regional campus involved was essential to that bid to ensure a strong regional component. The project was awarded $171,000 which will include research by the Bendigo campus.
2. Leveraging off this Carrick Institute funded project the planning program has made a submission to Regional Development Victoria (RDV) for $35,000 to take the Carrick Institute project further and undertake research on the links between planners in work places and economic development officers in local governments in regional areas.
3. RMIT and Griffith Universities received funding of nearly $400,000 from Land and Water Australia to undertake a two year benchmark study of peri-urban development in Australia. One of the key themes of the study is the impact of metropolitan development on regional communities. The planning program at Bendigo has been invited to participate in aspects of the research to strengthen the research base of the study.
4. An ARC linkages submission for the April 2007 round is being prepared. This will focus on the Historic, Cultural, Social, Economic and Community Role of the Box Ironbark Forests – the implications when urban settlement confronts a National Park: Bendigo and Castlemaine as case study areas. The relationship between urban settlements and the forests surrounding them is significant in central Victoria. The unique cultural and natural landscapes, fragmented patterns of historic and contemporary settlement and the myriad community and commercial forest activities have shaped local and regional perceptions and understandings of these forests. The importance of these forests has been recognised in recent years through upgraded status (National Park, National Heritage Park). A set of challenges remain in managing the urban interface of these growing communities, and to understanding what, if any, shared understanding exists regarding the role of these forests and the legitimate user activities within and adjoining them.
   
   This project proposes to draw on connections between the historic and contemporary understandings and interactions of these cultural and natural landscapes, specifically at the fringes suburbia, and in those locations where fragments of population and settlement form a mosaic within the forests. Twin research themes focus on:
   
   
   1. an historic and contemporary community perspective on the forests, from a productive landscape to a space of consumption, and the consequent challenge to a shared understanding of the role of forests on the fringe.
   2. exploring the interconnections between settlement growth and forest impacts, both from the spread of urban development into the fringes of the forests, and among the more diffuse settlement processes within the forest setting.
      
   Outcomes
   
   
   • An improved understanding of the multi dimensional community role of the forest/national park including in the context of the preparation and implementation of formal Management Plans.
   • A documentation of the history of the use of the box ironbark forests.
   • Managing the interface between urban settlement and National Park/National Heritage Park.
   • The interpretation of the role of the forest in a contemporary regional setting including urban growth, urban expectations and demands, tourism, recreation, mining and other economic activities.
   Collaborative Team
   
   
   • Dr Charles Fahey, La Trobe University, Bendigo
   • Trevor Budge/Andrew Butt, La Trobe University, Bendigo
   • Dr Trevor Hogan, La Trobe University, Bundoora
   • Associate Professor Dave Mercer, RMIT University
   • Dr Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University
     
   Linkages Partners include:
   
   
   • DSE
   • City of Greater Bendigo