The 2010 Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) NSW Planning Excellence Awards recognised the high standard of planning within the local government sector.

At the awards ceremony last week, four councils were awarded and six received commendations.

Local Government Association (LGA) president Keith Rhoades said the awards highlighted the “innovative work” conducted by councils.

“We’re especially pleased to see the President’s Award shared by Clarence Valley Council for their Affordable Housing Strategy,” Cr Rhoades said.

“I applaud their original approach to planning and housing issues in northern NSW.

“The awards are an excellent opportunity for councils to showcase leading edge approaches to issues such as housing affordability, managing coastal zones, ugrading public spaces, streamlining planning processes, creating healthy places and engaging communities in planning for the future.”

In the Environmental Planning category Landcom received the top accolade for its sustainability tool Precinx.

The modelling tool measures the potential sustainability of neighbourhood developments against key environmental, social and economic criteria.

Launched 12 months ago, the tool has already received strong interest from local government and state government agencies across Australia.

Landcom recently received funding from the NSW Department of Energy, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) to extend the energy module of Precinx.

Local government award winners:

President’s Award and Social Community Based Planning
Clarence Valley Council, Clarence Valley Affordable Housing Strategy

Urban Design – Plans and Ideas
Newcastle City Council, Merewether Beach Public Domain PLan

Urban Planning Achievement
Mosman LEP 2010-11-09

Media – Public/Professional
Warringah Council, Talk of the Town 2010 Community Summit: Warringah’s Housing Future