South Australian Sites
City of Salisbury Landscape Plan
introduction / overview / slides / location / SA-Projects
Landscape Architect: HASSELL Ltd
City Location: Salisbury, north of Adelaide
OVERVIEW
The City of Salisbury Landscape Plan is a comprehensive document which proposes a cohesive direction for existing and future development of the Council’s landscapes. It provides a clear set of guidelines to strengthen the unique physical characteristics of Salisbury, all underpinned by the key principles of promoting biodiversity, water sensitive urban design, and crime prevention through environmental design.
The City of Salisbury Landscape Plan is a ground breaking document that has successfully combined key landscape issues and council policies into a cohesive, easy to use and understand manual that provides a framework and future direction that encompasses Landscape Analysis, Relevant Policies & Strategies, City Image, Streetscapes, New Developments, Public Open Space, Public Domain Elements, Irrigation, Maintenance, and extensive Plant Lists. This document has been designed to be dynamic and easy to update in order to ensure its relevance for decades to come. The City of Salisbury Landscape Plan will be used as a practical tool by all levels of council’s staff, as well as consultants and developers.
CLIENT STATEMENT:
The City of Salisbury Landscape Plan is about creating Salisbury as a unique and sustainable City, through the creation of elements that identify the City, have visual appeal, amenity value and promotes community pride.
The Landscape Plan successfully and succinctly provides the framework for a consistent approach to the development and upgrade of Council’s natural assets (open space) into the future for both Council’s residents and developers.
The key aim of the document was to build upon current landscape strengths, identify short and long-term weaknesses with the existing landscape, and develop strategies for renewal of these existing landscapes and the enhancement of key high profile areas within the City.
To develop a landscape that provides consistency, is practical and functional as well as being cohesive with the City’s existing landscape elements. To preserve bio-diversity by the use of predominately indigenous plantings that complement existing vegetation associations.
This plan has created a new landscape vision for the City.
Planning Criteria:
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Dovetails with relevant council strategies including the Open Space Management, and Sport & Recreation Plans.
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Provides step by step information for developers that follows council approval processes.
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Incorporates State Government guidelines regarding streetscape design
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Includes discourse on global warming
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Correlates data on rainfall and monthly soil moisture budgets which directly affects council’s annual planting programmes.
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Each chapter begins with a Critical Overview and ends with Future Directions.
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This document is a well presented handbook that will be used by strategic planners, landscape architects and other design professionals for future landscape developments.
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HASSELL closely followed the client’s brief. The contents of document was structured by analysing the needs of the client and approved prior to proceeding with the bulk of the report. Meetings were held every fortnight and completed works were approved after each meeting.
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The final draft of the report was presented to the executive management group and required very little change due to the rigorous and collaborative process.
Environmental responsibility and sustainability:
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Almost all aspects of this document address sustainability and environmental best practice. Most importantly this document advocates the increase of biodiversity through the planting of endemic native plant species which correlate with local edaphic and micro-climatic zones.
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Encourages the use of recycled water through WSUD treatments such as bio-retention swales, wetlands, and aquifer storage and recovery systems.
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This document places landscape architecture at the forefront of council’s planning and development processes by acknowledging the importance of urban design and its positive affects on communities.
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New developments are encouraged to follow landscape and urban design processes that will ultimately benefit the environment.
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WSUD: this document advocates the use of bio-retention swales and wetlands to cleanse water.
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The Irrigation chapter sets out the principles to be followed for Irrigated Public Open Space, including the use of recycled water, sub-surface irrigation and scheduling in accordance with plant water usage requirements, soil conditions and climatic conditions.
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Extensive native plant lists have been included as appendices that cover the main landscape character zones including riparian, coastal plain, lower alluvial plain and upper alluvial plain. This addresses the need to increase bio-diversity.
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Plant lists also include exotic plants form “homo-climes” i.e. plants that have a low water requirement.
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The New Development chapter describes the need to limit the area of lawns to nodes that have a high use potential in order to reduce resource intensive landscapes.
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Protection of remnant vegetation is a key direction for future development sites.
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Permeable surfaces: council has a need for a variety of pavement materials; the use of ornamental gravels is highlighted as a environmentally sensitive way of treating landscaped areas that retards the movement of stormwater.
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Maintenance is described in detail and is linked to open space hierarchy and typology. By this approach maintenance can be treated in a way that minimises the wasteful use of resources and enables the structured programming by asset managers.
The City of Salisbury Landscape Plan is a comprehensive document that presents landscape design guidelines and policies in an easy to digest manner that will benefit the community and will enhance the role of the landscape architect.
introduction / overview / slides / location / SA-Projects
2008
