General News

A new report on urban transport design has been released by University College London and is now available in the Thinking Transport library.

Developed by Professor Peter Jones, 'Link and Place - A Guide to Street Planning and Design' advocates an alternative approach to street planning and design based on streets as movement conduits (Links) and destinations in their own right (Places).

The Minister for Planning has established an Advisory Committee to review the planning controls for the ports of Melbourne, Geelong, Portland and Hastings.  The ports that are included in the review are the Ports of Melbourne, Geelong, Hastings and Portland. The Committee's main task is to assist the Government in improving planning and buffer protection for ports; in particular, to provide recommendations about how ports can be protected from encroachment by sensitive uses.

The Committee will release a discussion paper within six months and a final report is to be submitted to the Minister of Planning by end of August 2010. For more information, visit the DPCD website.

Planners play an essential role in planning, designing and regulating the environments in which we live.  Well-planned neighbourhoods can increase the number of people who choose walking or cycling as their mode of transport.  More people walking or cycling to shops, schools and local facilities helps to build more socially vibrant and inclusive neighbourhoods, together with the associated economic and environmental benefits.

The Healthy by Design resource, produced by the Heart Foundation (Victorian Division) aims to provide practical guidance to planners, especially those working for or with local governments, to enable them to plan for active communities.

Visit the Planning for Active Communities page to see how local governments from across Victoria have used the Healthy by Design principles.

Detailed information on how Victorians travel, to where, by what method and for what purpose is now available on-line as a result of a detailed study by the Victorian Government.

Department of Transport’s Executive Director of Policy and Communications Michael Hopkins said the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA), or VISTA 07, gives everyone  access to the sort of information about our transport networks that had previously only been available to governments.  “The VISTA on-line tool is free, simple and accessible and can give everyone an understanding of how people travel – in Victoria or in their local area,” Mr Hopkins said. 

To access the VISTA data, click here.  A summary brochure of travel statistics from VISTA 07 is also available for download.