Vertical Integration: The Relationship Between Regional and District Plans

When assessing the vertical integration of regional plans and district plans, both plans must correlate to promote consistency and uniformity in infrastructure development. As seen in Figure 1, regional plans must set out visions, objectives strategies and actions for the wider economic, social and environmental context whilst district plans must understand and respond to the objectives of the regional plan with planning priorities followed by actions relevant to planned precincts and growth areas of the specific district. With this in mind, Greater Sydney Region Plan can be analysed in relation to the Central City District Plan where this section of the report will examine the ability of both plans to achieve the correlative outcomes set out in Figure 1, with a further investigation of the vertical integration of the three government tiers.

The GSRP sets out a 40-year vision to improve infrastructure on an economic, social and environmental basis, seeking to establish three cities within Greater Sydney with the idea of a “30minute city,” where residents will live within desired proximity to their work, education and essential services (Greater Sydney Commission, 2018). The GSRP conducts this vision on a regional level, balancing all districts into one plan to prioritise Greater Sydney’s Growth as one. On the other hand, the Central City District Plan sets out a 20-year plan that provides greater detail on the planning priorities pertaining to the local government areas of Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta and The Hills and outlines in greater detail on how the vision of the GSRP will be achieved. Mentioned in the vision statement of the GSRP was to “collaborate between all tiers of government” (Greater Sydney Commission, 2018), where the regional plan is set out as the framework plan to inform district plans and local government plans.

The ‘Ten Directions’ component of the GSRP is a critical element of the GSRP, setting out the ambition for the region whilst also providing an essential framework to the plan. Under these

Figure 1: Structure and Relationship of Regional and District Plans (Greater Sydney Commission, 2018). Figure 2: Roles of Planning Authorities in Greater Sydney (Greater Sydney Commission, 2018).

directions with the GSRP, objectives have been listed to support each control. These objectives often remain widely vague and open to interpretation based on each individual district. On the other hand, when reviewing the Central City District Plan more specific planning priorities and actions have been devised pertaining to the LGA that it affects. For example, under the direction of ‘a well-connected city,’ the GSRP lists Objectives 14 – 17, where Objectives 14 and 16 are consistent with the planning priorities of the district plan. These ambiguous objectives include the establishment of 30-minute cities through integrated land use and transport, and the creation of a competitive logistics and freight network. In response to these objectives, the district plan has set more explicit actions to achieve these ambitions including the responsibility of council and state agencies to plan transport and infrastructure corridors, improving the efficiency of logistics and freight handling, and preserving transport corridors such as the Western Sydney Freight Line, as seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Table comparing the Greater Sydney Regional Plan to the Central City District Plan within the direction of ‘A Well Connected City’ (Greater Sydney Commission, 2018).

A Well Connected City

Greater Sydney Regional Plan (Regional)

Objective

Objective 14: A Metropolis of Three Cities – Integrated land use and transport creates walkable 30 minute cities. Strategy

14.1 Integrate land use and transport plans to deliver the 30-minute city.

14.2 Investigate, plan and protect future transport and infrastructure corridors.

14.3 Support innovative approaches to the operation of business, educational and institutional establishments to improve the performance of the transport network. Central City District Plan (District)

Planning Priorities Action

C9 Delivering integrated land use and transport planning and a 30-minute city Integrate land use and transport plans to deliver the 30-minute city.

Investigate, plan and protect future transport and infrastructure corridors.

Support innovative approaches to the operation of business, educational and institutional establishments to improve the performance of the transport network.

Objective 16: Freight and logistics network is competitive and efficient. 16.1 Manage the interfaces of industrial areas, trade gateways and intermodal facilities C9 Delivering integrated land use and transport planning and a 30-minute city Optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of the freight handling and logistics network

16.2 Optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of the freight handling and logistics Protect transport corridors as appropriate, including the Western Sydney Freight Line, North South train link from Schofields to Western Sydney Airport as well as the Outer Sydney Orbital and Bells Line of Road-Castlereagh connection