AILA SA: State of the State
It is a very interesting time for the profession in South Australia – as demonstrated at the recent awards; we are a very talented bunch, with great design and planning skills across a diversity of sectors and specialities as evident in the winners. Congratulations to all!!
As Confucius says – ‘may you live in interesting times’ – and we certainly do! Whilst some informed commentators (such as Ross Gittens of the Sydney Morning Herald, Annabel Crabb of the ABC and Michelle Gratton of The Age) are calling the current economic climate the ‘2 speed’ economy, I think it is far more complex than that here in SA, with the simmering and seemingly stalled announcement of the expansion of Olympic Dam – rightly or wrongly – creating some uncertainty. Couple this with the steady downturn in the local residential and building markets and you see what I mean. We must look forward to sustaining more projects across more practices in the near future for our profession.
Your Executive is aware and concerned with the level of design activity here in Adelaide and further afield being outsourced to firms from other states, and whilst competition and diversity of skills will always be applauded on merit, we must remember and reaffirm our commitment to a sustainable profession in South Australia, with a fair proportion of work being tendered and won by local practices. Procurement is the key, and we are forming a position on this for consultation as part of the 5000 Plus Forum Series some of you may have been involved with to date through the IDC.
AILA_SA is a very vocal and committed participant in this important series of conversations undertaken so far and we will continue to advocate for the profession of landscape architecture in the diverse field of integrated design in this state. If you have firm views (or any views) on this please let me know as I am very interested in what collectively and individually think and I can use this as part of our advocacy strategy.
On behalf of Tanya and the AILA SA Executive, I wish you all a merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Daniel Bennett, Frequency Editor
2011-2013 Vice President
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