I co-edited Planning News, the official magazine of the Victorian division of the Planning Institute of Australia, with Tim Westcott and Gilda Di Vincenzo from June 2007 until December 2010. Planning News has been published since 1975 and is the only monthly publication in Australia devoted to urban planning.
During that time we produced a number of special issues covering particular topics in-depth, notably:
- Peak oil and the issues it raises for planning (September 2007, with contributions by Phil Hart, Elliot Fishman, and Jago Dodson & Neil Sipe)
- Planning system reform (April 2008, featuring an editorial collation of reform suggestions plus a contribution from the Department of Planning and Community Development)
- The Melbourne 2030 audit and the Eddington report (August 2008, with contributions by Michael Buxton, Mike Scott, and Alister Campbell)
- Melbourne @ 5 Million and the Victorian Transport Plan (February 2009, featuring Mike Scott, Robin Goodman, Max Lay, Ray Brindle, Knowles Tivendale, Paul Mees and Daniel Bowen)
- Planning for disaster recovery in the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires (March 2009, featuring Tony Powell and Beatriz Maturana)
- Politicians and their role in planning (May 2009, featuring Dick Gross)
- Corruption in planning (July 2009, featuring the Hon. Jerrold Cripps and Bernadette George)
- Planning in the media (October 2009, featuring Clay Lucas, Jon Ryan, and Frank Dawson)
- The Romsey Hotel decision (February 2010, featuring Kate Kerin and Colleen Peterson)
- The Bushfire Royal Commission report (September 2010, featuring Roz Hansen and Michael Buxton)
We also twice interviewed Planning Minister Justin Madden (November 2008 and October 2010), and interviewed Shadow Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Greens planning spokesman Greg Barber as part of our two part series of interviews with all major party planning spokespeople in the lead-up to the Victorian State Election (October 2010 and November 2010).
In our final issue the then-President of PIA in Victoria, David Vorchheimer, wrote as follows:
Over the past three and a half years, our editorial committee have been responsible for and seen through the reinvigoration of Planning News. Planning News is now regarded as the most frank, fearless, authoritative and respected planning publication in Australia; a publication that all other divisions of the Institute are envious of and look up to, with the view of emulating… Over the past three years, Planning News has covered everything from social and economic planning, through to the Windsor affair, Development Assessment Committees, the Planning and Environment Act review and the Black Saturday response. However, in superb fashion the editors have finished their stint at the helm with the ‘no holds barred’ frank and fearless interviews of Justin Madden, Matthew Guy and Greg Barber. As a beneficiary of the talents and efforts of our editors, I would like to thank them on behalf of the Institute, readership and myself, for tirelessly seeking to lift the bar and push the boundaries, in getting to the core of current and emerging planning issues. Your efforts have been noticed and are truly appreciated.
Below are the covers for the issues I co-edited.
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