Haig Park, Campell Section 5 win national planning awards

Canberra planners have taken out three awards in the Planning Institute of Australia's national awards announced on Monday night.

Judge Liz de Chastel said the ACT had made mark in the "highly competitive" awards, with projects from every state and territory.

The six-month project to revitalise the often-avoided Haig Park won for its "experimental" and unique approach to community consultation

Ms de Chastel said experimental idea should be replicated in projects across the ACT and that it had shown the government how the process could be improved.

Ms de Chastel, who was also on the ACT awards judging panel, said there had been clear results from the consortium of the City Renewal Authority, University of Canberra, Tait Network, Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centre and Dionysus.

She said with the right planning it could be easily replicated for other projects across the country as it was a low cost exercise.

The six-month $1 million project started in 2019 by holding small-scale public activities in the park. The second stage involved erecting temporary structures including a pavilion and incorporating running tracks followed by a trial of large scale events.

City Renewal Authority chief executive Malcolm Snow said at the time the project was to change people's perception of the park.

Campbell Section 5, a major development on the corner of Constitution Avenue and Anzac Parade, took out the award for Plan to Place.

Ms de Chastel said the project by Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects, Jane Irwin Landscape and the Suburban Land Agency was an "exceptional" example of urban infill.

She said the development easily embedded into the National Triangle fronting some of Canberra's most prominent thoroughfares.

A Canberra designed app which gathers data to understand how people use certain spaces took out the award for Improving Planning Processes and Practices.

Ms de Chastel said the innovative design was more relevant than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic showed residents the importance of public space, particularly green space.

The tool has been used across the country and internationally for planners to gauge how any space is used including parks, playgrounds, bike paths and train stations.

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Inhabit Place pitches to government and private developers to audit a location and collect data on who uses an area, when and how as well talking to residents.

Ms de Chastel said it has led to major improvements in planning and design, adding the unique idea would work alongside the experimental style of community consultation used for Haig Park.

Canberra's Young Planner of the Year Skylar Sin Chan was commended on the national scale for the same award.

Mr Sin Chan from Spacelab Studio came to Australia as a international student from Hong Kong.

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