Document Governance

The Infrastructure Development Guidelines are produced by the City of Greater Geelong. Ensuring the information it contains is accurate and current would not be possible without the contributions and assistance of staff across the organisation.

The Infrastructure Development Guidelines are continually reviewed and updated not only to account for changes in agency information, but also to better describe and define improvements and changes in the management of infrastructure and the development of sustainable communities.

Reference documents referred to within this document shall be taken as meaning the latest current edition of the document.

Formal Infrastructure Guidelines Document Review The Infrastructure Development Guidelines document is reviewed annually by a committee. Membership of the Committee will be drawn from a core group of officers from the City. The role of this group is to review the document and consult with other City departments and external agencies to ensure best practice in the development of infrastructure.

The core group consists of the following City of Greater Geelong officers:

• Co-ordinator Infrastructure Management (Chair)
• Co-ordinator Recreation & Open Space
• Co-ordinator Community Facilities
• Co-ordinator Urban Growth Area Planning
• Co-ordinator Sustainability.

As part of the review process, it may be deemed necessary to create sub-committees and working groups to investigate new standards or industry trends for inclusion into the Infrastructure Guidelines. It is proposed an updated version of the Infrastructure Guidelines is produced every 12 months.

Users of the Guidelines are also invited to suggest improvements and amendments via the project page feedback box. These will be discussed and considered as part of the formal review process. Recommended changes to the infrastructure guidelines will be forwarded to the Executive Management team at the City of Greater Geelong for approval following a two - week exhibition period of the draft alterations.

Acknowledgements:

This document has been prepared by the City of Greater Geelong as a collaborative project by a number of internal CoGG departments.

The following Council officers are acknowledged as members of the Project Control Group:

John Bryce 
Engineering Services

Stephen Parker 
Recreation and Open Space

Robert Anderson Urban Growth Area Planning

Burke Renouf 
Environment and Natural Resources

Liz Coles 
Community Facilities

Please Note:

These Infrastructure Development Guidelines have been prepared using the most relevant information available at the time of writing. It is acknowledged that it does not include everything that will be required for infrastructure development but this document is a good starting point and guide for planning and construction.

The Australian Standards that are referenced in this document are current at the time of publication.

It is the responsibility of the individual to follow all the required policies and to seek clarification about any additional documents that may become relevant in the future.

Introduction

These guidelines have been prepared to facilitate the development of Sustainable Communities through quality planning, design and construction of infrastructure in the City of Greater Geelong. They will assist with the upgrade and redevelopment of existing infrastructure as well as the establishment of new communities throughout the municipality.

Sustainable Communities:

• Are places where people want to live, work and play
• Meet diverse needs of existing and future residents
• Offer a high quality of life and promote community connectedness
• Lead the way with environmental outcomes and maximising natural settings
• Are safe, inclusive and engaging
• Possess economic vitality that promotes diverse activity
• Focus on integrated planning of all aspects of community and liveability
• Offer good access to quality services and community facilities, and
• Are well connected and welcoming for residents and visitors.

Community infrastructure is the collection of physical and publicly accessible assets used by the community that support its health, well being, sense of place and community. The City of Greater Geelong expects that infrastructure will be of high quality, responsive to changing community needs and aspirations and will be able to be maintained within operational budgets.

Minimum standards may be specified to ensure that an acceptable standard of development is achieved; however creative design that maximises a sites’ natural settings and features will be encouraged.

Innovative design solutions and construction techniques will result in communities that are individual and promote their unique qualities.

City Plan 2013-2017 identifies outcomes for the communities of Greater Geelong as:

Community Wellbeing

Objective: To improve the health and quality of life of all residents of Greater Geelong

Outcomes:

• Improved healthy eating and physical activity
• Increased lifelong learning and literacy
• Liveable neighbourhoods.

Objective: The City of Greater Geelong leads the community in sustainable planning and environmental action.

• Increased use of public transport and active transport
• A reduction in the organisation’s environmental footprint
• Agreed standards for sustainable development are in operation
• The Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is established
• Enhancement and protection of natural areas

Growing the Economy

Objective: Securing Geelong’s Economic Future

Outcomes:

• Plan and develop the National Transport and Logistics Precinct
• Development of the Cosmopolitan Heart
• Managed Growth.

The City of Greater Geelong acknowledges the importance of balancing economic growth, providing vibrant and informed communities and preserving and protecting the City’s unique environmental assets. The Geelong Sustainability Framework 2006 - 2011 establishes directions to be pursued to be a more sustainable City.

Geelong’s natural assets – forests, air, water, land, plants, animals and climate – must be protected and a balance between their use and maintaining the ecosystem services they provide must be achieved.

Consideration must also be given to how natural resources are used and the need for greater efficiencies to reduce consumption of resources and the generation of waste.

The Geelong community also needs to understand how choices made in their everyday lives can reduce their impact on the environment. To this end, the importance of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) is reinforced throughout this document.

It is important to plan, design and construct community infrastructure in a responsible and sustainable way because such infrastructure:

• Affects people’s ability to go about their everyday life
• Can incorporate adaptable and flexible environments that cater for changing needs over time
• Increases people’s chance of meeting others, accessing services and being active members of communities
• Preserves natural values and incorporate environmental features, and
• Enhances health and well being through opportunities for physical activity and active lifestyle.

It is anticipated that these guidelines will be used by Developers, Agencies and Authorities, CoGG staff, and Consultants on behalf of Clients.

The next few sections of these guidelines outlines the various types of infrastructure and the relevant standards and reference documents that should be used in the planning, design and development of infrastructure.

In some cases, the requirements are summarised with reference to other documents that contain greater detail, in other cases, the requirements are detailed in this document. These sections should be closely followed to ensure that minimum requirements are achieved.

Some sections refer to infrastructure in terms of its hierarchy - for example: regional, sub-regional, local, etc. These levels of hierarchy, which will guide development standards, may differ for various types of infrastructure. Each section should be read according to its own definition of hierarchy.

Master planning is an important consideration and often a requirement for community and open space infrastructure.

It will be important that master plans are prepared by professionals with appropriate qualifications and are developed in accordance with these development standards.

This document has been prepared with a standard format for each type of infrastructure.

Within each section:

• The objectives and principles of development are summarised
• The relevant standards and policies are outlined including legislation, industry standards, policies and guidelines
• Planning considerations are discussed with particular reference to relevant resource materials that should be used in planning phases, and
• Design and construction guidance and requirements are covered to ensure that there is consistency and compliance with minimum standards of infrastructure development.

The infrastructure discussed in these guidelines includes:

These guidelines are intended to be used as a guide for planning, design and development. While there are many aspects of the guidelines that are quite specific about development outcomes, the City encourages innovation and creative solutions to the development of sustainable communities.

A pre-application meeting for applicants seeking planning approval is critical to discuss and negotiate aspects of proposed developments. Any application area will form part of the larger neighbourhood or region and it will be important to understand the context for every development and consider other requirements for community outcomes that will be important for the City to achieve.

It should be noted that strategic planning documents that include structure plans, urban development frameworks and urban growth plans provide critical detail and/or direction in relation to streetscapes, road and footpath treatments, linkages and landscapes. These documents should be examined to ensure infrastructure provision is consistent with these approved documents.

Examples of key documents are:

Section 8 of this document describes the process for application and approval. It also provides points of contact within the City of Greater Geelong should further information be required.

Climate Change Considerations

Climate change effects are already experienced today and even in the most optimistic scenarios, additional effects are already locked in. Even if we could stop all greenhouse gas emissions today, inertia in the climate system means that temperatures are likely to continue to increase. It is important that infrastructure within the City of Greater Geelong considers the potential impacts of climate change, to reduce the risks facing the city in future. However, incorporating climate change can be challenging because of the uncertainty associated with timing, extent and geographic location of the impacts.

Infrastructure design in Geelong should consider the following principles to ensure that:

• Future climate (rather than current climate) is considered when designing new infrastructure or developments.
• Design responses do not result in maladaptation, ending up worse than you started prior to implementing adaptation measures, either through overestimating or underestimating the effects of the climate change impacts.
• Integrated and multi-benefit responses are considered whenever appropriate.

The principles

The infrastructure or developments should be designed in such a way that:

1. They remain viable under the widest range of probable climate futures.
2. They can be implemented within planned budgets, or refer to sufficient evidence to justify budget/ revenue increases.
3. They incorporate flexible features (for example: for future upgrades) and preserve options (wherever possible).
4. Due consideration is given to systemic interdependencies when considering climate impacts.

The application of these principles to specific categories of infrastructure is illustrated in each section by high level examples.

Appendix A outlines a checklist of key issues to consider when considering the potential implications of climate change.