News

Jun 7 / 2019

Infrastructure Designations Explained.

An Infrastructure Designation is like Planning Gold! No longer bestowed on only public sector entities, an Infrastructure Designation (ID) is an opportunity to designate premises for the development of essential infrastructure and services, faster, at lower cost and without risk of appeal. Previously, only public entities were able to request these designations, however since the introduction of the Planning Act 2016, the process is able to be requested by private entities as well.

May 22 / 2019

Latest Events: PIA Congress Takeaways

Last week, Town Planners, Alistair, Joel and Clare attended the PIA Congress at the Gold Coast. The congress provided insightful keynote speakers and presentations covering a range of topics and challenges that our cities and regions face. These focused on the constant pressures of climate change, population growth, sustainability and housing demand.

May 15 / 2019

Proposed Changes to Deep Planting in Brisbane City Council: What You Need to Know.

Deep planting is planting that is 100% open to the sky (no overhead structures) and 100% in natural ground with no underground infrastructure (no underground car parks or service conduits encased in concrete). Some of the proposed changes to deep planting, if adopted by Council, may substantially reduce the net usable space of a site, which may, in some cases, create feasibility issues for our clients. Click on the title to learn more.

May 8 / 2019

Keeping Brisbane’s Story Alive with 3D Scanning Technologies.

Important historical and economic benefits of heritage sites usually come to mind when talking about internationally famous landmarks. As for social and community benefits, let’s take a step back to our own hometown. People who have never lived in Brisbane would be unlikely to know anything about our city’s best gems such as the Customs House, the Windmill, the Woolstores, ANZAC Square or the Breakfast Creek Hotel. Yet to our residents and off-the-beaten-track visitors alike, these places are significant parts of Brisbane’s identity. We know them, we identify with them and therefore, they underpin our sense of belonging to this city and to Brisbane community.

Apr 26 / 2019

‘One Step Forward, Two Steps Back’ for Brisbane?

What are the potential outcomes for our city, based on the recent Major Amendment Package E to Brisbane City Plan? This question is at the forefront of many minds in our industry, and everyone else who cares about housing, sustainability and liveability of our city. We support Council in its initiative to implement improvements and innovations including formally recognising car sharing services, however we believe there is potential for much more successful outcomes if some of the proposed amendments were not so restrictive and prescriptive.

Mar 22 / 2019

From Real Rocks to Virtual Buildings: A history of drafting.

Drafting is known to be one of the oldest documented professions, with the earliest drawings found on cave walls and dating back many thousands of years. The earliest recorded piece of history discovered, was the drafting board which dates back to 2000 – 3000 B.C and features a fossilised aerial view of a Babylonian castle. With rocks being used as drafting tools, the life of a Drafter was definitely not as we know it today.

Mar 8 / 2019

An easy short-term fix vs an important long-term plan – what do you choose?

Heads Up: The Future of Housing was a very insightful event – organised by the Urban Development Institute of Australia - that some of our staff attended last week. John Daley, the key speaker at the event, CEO of Grattan Institute and writer on Australian public policy, had a lot of very important points to make about policy priorities for everything housing related. It is one thing to hear an expert’s opinion or a debate about an issue but it is a totally different experience, and a much more important one, to face the reality by analysing some real figures – and John definitely did that.

Feb 27 / 2019

Orange is the New Green: Enhancing Environmental Sustainability Inside and Out.

After launching our company's internal sustainability program “Orange is the New Green” mid-2018, WCG Team were able to raise $1,000 through the reusable coffee cup (KeepCups) initiative, which we proudly donated to the Bremer Catchment Association during their first team meeting of 2019. It is great to see that our company’s internal sustainability efforts have transferred into a significant financial benefit for an organisation that shares our values.