OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF PLA (WA) ISSUE 6 August 2011 In this edition: PLA Regional Council Update Page 2 Urban design for Healthy Active Communities an initiative from the DSR Page 3 Professional Development coming up. Diploma of Facility Management now available through PLA and YMCA. Page 4 The State of Volunteering participate in the statewide survey to help develop a celar picture of volunteering in WA See Page 5 1 Facility Managers Network is now up and running after the first meeting on July 8th. If you wish to become a part of this group please email linda@parksleisure.com.au Horticulture RTO working group Page 6 2. The Open Space Planners Network will meet on Fertiliser Action Plan Urban User Group The Fertiliser Action Plan Urban User group producing hard copies of its brochure on Plan Urban user group is now producing hard copies of its brochure Fertilising your Lawn and Garden. PLA has access to an electronic copy of the brochure to enable members to make the brochure available without the need of printing. Contact the Executive Officer on plawa@parksleisure.com.au to access the brochure. 3. PLA WA Annual General Meeting and Award Presentations to be held at the Town of Vincent on Thursday 1st September 2011 at 6.00 pm. Invitations coming soon
PLA WA REGIONAL COUNCIL Page 2 Recently, PLA called for nominations fro positions on the regional councils across Australia. In Western Australia, The Regional Council consists of up to ten (10) PLA members including the State President, Treasurer and National Director. The Council is supported by the Executive Officer and Events Coordinator/Administration Officer. The balance of the PLA WA Regional Council members operate by a portfolio system to utilise their diversity of technical skills and experience to support PLA WA activities. The current portfolios are Open Space, Leisure Facilities, Parks and Gardens, Sustainability, Advocacy, and Governance. PLAWA would like to thank the following people, who have recently resigned as PLA regional councillors, for their generous and valuable contribution to the Parks Leisure industry, and extend an invitation to rejoin the PLA regional council whenever they are available again. Fiona Bentley Fiona s work in initiating the Open Spaces Planners Network was a vital service both to the industry and the wider community. This much needed initiative which has now been established thanks to her efforts. We wish Fiona every success in future endeavours. Dr May Carter Dr Carter has been a tireless advocate for the preservation and design of open spaces. She took carriage of the development of the PLA WA Position Paper on Public Open Space provisions. Dr Carter will continue to work closely with PLA in this field and in her position as founder and CEO of Placescape. Mr Nick Brown Nick was involved in the initial work done on standards in Horticulture and in raising the profile of PLA amongst rural and regional organizations. He ahs been actively involved in promoting PLA throughout the industry. Steve Mason Steve ahs had a long and productive history with PLA at both the regional and national level. National President for three years and National Director representing WA for nearly five years, Steve s contribution to PLA has been enormous. PLAWA would also like to welcome the following people as regional councillors: David Lamb from ECU David is keen to contribute to the area of professional development; Nicholas Stawarz from the City of Wanneroo Nick is hoping to further influence the public open space debate and PLA agenda; Rachel Thorpe From the City of Swan as a strong background in the development of play space.
Page 3 SHARED FACILITIES/HEALTHY ACTIVE BY DESIGN The Physical Activity Taskforce was formed in 2001 to oversee the development and implementation of a whole of community physical activity strategy for Western Australia. MANAGING SHARED FACILITIES RESOURCE The Taskforce's Built Environment Schools Working Group is developing a resource on managing shared facilities, such as school ovals, swimming pools and recreation centres. The aim of the resource is to develop a suite of tools that provide practical guidance on the management and governance of shared use facilities in the Community Overview Built Environment Schools Working Group, a subgroup of the Physical Activity Taskforce Built Environment Advisory Committee, has agreed to develop a dedicated State guide for those planning or operating a shared community facility. It will be based on Victoria s resource A Guide to Governing Shared Community Facilities produced by the Department of Planning and Community Development. The resource will initially focus on the shared use and joint provision of school, and sport and recreation facilities, however, the principles can be used more broadly across a range of facilities. It will provide specific State based guidance and policy context as well as local case studies. It is intended that the resource will also include a model agreement to provide a standardise framework for shared-use facilities. HEALTHY ACTIVE BY DESIGN PROJECT The way our communities are designed can have a positive or negative impact on our health and wellbeing. Research shows that active lifestyles can be encouraged by how we design our streets, parks, recreational facilities and where we locate our homes, schools and retail areas. Physical inactivity in WA is at an all time low with 40% of the adult population not taking enough exercise. The Healthy Active by Design project had been commissioned to address these issues. It will provide specific State based guidance that draws together a variety of design considerations and provides practical guidance for the education, health, transport, planning and development sectors to support and promote healthy active living. Policy will be created after extensive community consultation both regional and metropolitan integrate best practice principles for new developments and retrofitting with strong consideration for active transport, public open space and co-location of facilities. How Can You Help For those of you that are interested in contributing to the development of either of these resources then we would like to hear from you. You can take part by either: 1. Completing the online needs and issues survey that aims to explore the design considerations and test the formulation of emerging design features relating to the resource. 2. Submitting examples of good practice case studies in which appropriate design principles have been utilised. For further information please contact Louise Atherton, Senior Policy Officer, Physical Activity Taskforce on (08) 9492 9633 or email louise.atherton@dsr.wa.gov.au
Page 4 PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING GROUPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT NETWORK This group met for the first time on 8 th July at the Embleton Room at Bayswater City Council The meeting was convened by Joanne Smith, Manager Gardens and Landscaping, Bayswater City Council and Adrian Jarvis, Facilities Planning Officer, City of Gosnells. The aim of this meeting was to establish main issues facing facility managers and to identify key areas for the group to address in future meetings. These were established as: A. To provide support, improve leisure facility design, management and operational review. B. To develop a leisure facility professional development program and support nonmetropolitan areas. The group will meet quarterly, the first meeting being in October, 2011 in Northam. (TBA) For more information or to give suggestions regarding venues and issues for future meetings please contact Linda Smith at linda@parksleisure.com.au DIPLOMA OF FACILITY MANAGEMENT YMCA and PLAWA are pleased to announce the commencement of a facility management qualification that will be available online and nationally recognised. Details will be finalised soon for more information contact Andrew Ballam from YMCA on Andrew.ballam@ymca.org.au OPEN SPACE PLANNERS NETWORK The next meeting will be on 7 September at 2.30 pm. It will take place in Northbridge and will focus on the EPRA Northbridge redevelopment. The final venue details will be forwarded to OSPN members and PLA members when finalised. he and will take New Northam Facility
Page 5 Applications still open for 2011 AgriFood-ISSI International Fellowships Applications are still open for the 2011 AgriFood-ISS Institute International Fellowships. Valued at $10,000 each, the Fellowships provide successful recipients with the opportunity to travel overseas and research a topic of particular value to the agrifood industry, examining innovative approaches that demonstrate potential benefits for, and application in, Australia and agrifood enterprises. Two Fellowships are on offer this year, and will be presented at the 2011 AgriFood National Conference dinner to be held in Brisbane on Wednesday 21 September 2011. The Fellowships are open to people Australia-wide in the sectors covered by AgriFood Skills Australia: Agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management Animal care and management Food processing, including beverages, wine and pharmaceuticals Meat Seafood Racing Applications close at 4.00pm on Monday 15 August 2011. For more information and to download the application form, please visit the AgriFood website at http://ww.wagrifoodskills.net.au/outus/fellowships/ In 2011 the world celebrates the International Year of Volunteers. In recognition of this Volunteering WA is undertaking the State of Volunteering in WA in 2011 Report. This research aims to investigate what volunteering looks like in WA in 2011, for volunteers, volunteer-involving organisations and the wider community. The report will capture issues and challenges and note the features that are changing and evolving in Western Australia s volunteering environment. The report is unique in that it attempts to capture data on both the formal and informal volunteering habits of Western Australians. This research will be invaluable for PLA members. The State of Volunteering WA Survey The surveys can be accessed via the Volunteering WA website www.volunteeringwa.org.au Hard copies of the surveys can be obtained by contacting Denise at Volunteering WA on 9482 4317 or denise@volunteeringwa.org.au The survey closing date is mid-august 2011. Please firward survey inforation trhough your networks and let s make this survey a great one for our future planning.
Page 6 Date Program Location Organisation Contact for Info 16th August Horticulture Industry Working Group Challenger TAFE Murdoch Campus Challenger TAFE/ PLAWA linda@parksleisure.com.au 18th August Regional Council Meeting Town of Vincent Leederville PLAWA plawa@parksleisure.com.au October Facility Management network group Northam PLAWA linda@parksleisure.com.au 9th, 23rd August Fertilewise Fertiliser Training City of Belmont Depot SERCUL amykrup@sercul.org.au 13th, 27th September Fertilewise Fertiliser Training Canning River Eco Education Centre SERCUL amykrup@sercul.org.au HORTICULTURE PARKS AND GARDENS TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIPS WORKING GROUP After meeting with industry representatives, Challenger TAFE and PLAWA has formed a working party to advocate improvements to the current Cert II,III,IV and Diplomas offered to apprentices. Issues under consideration are: Certificates levelled to reflect prior learning. More depth of knowledge taught, eg plant names and qualities Block courses vs weekly training. Improving communication between lecturers (TAFE) and employers regarding progress of apprentices. Timing of courses to guarantee completion within a one year contract. If you would like to contribute your ideas please contact linda@parksleisure.com.au or John.Forrest@challenger.wa.edu.au> indicating your position and level of interest. The first meeting will be at 10.00 am onn August 16th at Challenger TAFE, Murdoch Campus. CERTIFICATE IV TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT AVAILABLE FREE FROM AGRIFOODS. Anyone interested in completing a Cert IV in training and assessment can begin this course free through Agrifoods. Information can be found on their website. www.agrifoodskills.net.au
Page 7 GREEN PRECINTS FUND The Federal Government Green Precincts Fund supports projects that encourage water and energy savings measures at the community level to deliver direct environmental benefits and raise community awareness about water and energy savings. For further information on the Green Precincts Fund you can email greenprecincts@environment.gov.au or call 02 6274 1937. The Australian Government provided $1.5 million in funding for the Grove Library project through the Green Precincts Fund. The Grove library is not just a place to read books; the new library and precinct serve as an important community space that highlights the value of sustainable energy and water use. The Grove Library and Precinct in Perth is a joint project with the towns of Cottesloe and Mosman Park and the Shire of Peppermint Grove and contains a library and community centre for the three communities. The new building features innovative and ecologically sustainable design features and technologies that will save up to 1.5 megalitres of water and 193,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year. The environmentally sustainable design features include: a 20 kw capacity photovoltaic system, a solar hot water system and a wind turbine system to generate an estimated total of 47,000 kwh a year energy and water efficient fixtures and fittings, including sensor lighting control climate sensitive building design through a thermal maze, in-ground heat exchange and double glazing a rainwater harvesting system with 258,000 litre capacity storage tanks, and wastewater and stormwater treatment and recycling systems. Community involvement is an important part of the Grove Library Project. A series of sustainable workshops and events, community forums and school programs will give participants practical first hand information on the smart design ideas and lifestyle changes they can incorporate into their own lives. The library s gardens recently won sustainability awards for water sensitive design.