A Postcard from Coastal Victoria

Tim Hart
AILA Vic Group President
June 2004

During the recent New Year break, I visited a number of Victorian coastal towns. In this- The Year of the Built Environment, my holiday experience highlighted the significant development pressures that are being placed on our coastal environments and left me questioning how effective landscape architects are in influencing this process.

Many Victorian coastal towns have undergone something of a Seachange led resurgence. The lure of a more relaxed lifestyle and the beach environment has meant that the population in some coastal towns has increased up to 30% in the past 5 years. A boom in property values has further spurned the development process, however it seems that many local councils have failed to implement sufficient planning controls and development guidelines to positively influence this change. It also seems that many developers have imported a “suburban” approach to the development process, thereby creating the same type of built environment that many residents have tried to leave behind.

Two recently constructed housing estates that I visited were integrated with large golf course developments. Both developments were constructed on rural fringe / farmland with direct beach access. Although different in their image making, both developers had missed the opportunity to build on the essential qualities of their locality or landscape context.

This imported or themed approach to landscape appears to underlie many residential developments and is perceived to be critical to the marketing success of a project. This approach however sits uncomfortably in a naturally powerful and evocative coastal environment that is very marketable in its own right. One must question the logic of diminishing the qualities of the very setting potential investors have come to enjoy.

The two developments were quite different in their adopted design style but both appeared to set themselves outside of their landscape context, rather than attempting to integrate with the indigenous coastal landscape. This approach was exacerbated by the use of standard detailing, and streetscape design common to many outer suburban housing estates with roll over kerb and channel, formal exotic avenue plantings and ornamental landscape treatments. Most disappointing, particularly in this ideal environment, was the lack of any integration of water sensitive urban design initiatives.

Although these developments offer good access to open space and recreation opportunities, they are manifestations of an enclave typology that lacks permeability or connectivity to adjacent developments and facilities. In addition due to their fringe locality, access to services is very poor, with residents entirely reliant on car access.

The construction of this type of golf course and residential estate is currently booming in parts of North America. While they are not new to this country, if a similar level of development occurs on a per capita basis in Australia, they represent a significant opportunity for landscape architects to positively influence the quality and form of these developments.

This type of high profile project, with their significant budgets, should showcase the role of our discipline in providing solutions that are cognisant of their context and demonstrate the benefits of integrated environmental design solutions.

We must ensure that our skills are not stifled by the misguided power of marketing, particularly its narrowly scoped lifestyle and image making approach to design.