黑料大事

Peta Harwood is General Manager Development Services, City 黑料大事 and Sustainability with Brisbane City Council. She has operated in executive leadership roles for over 13 years, in a career spanning 30 years.

Through Peta’s varied roles, she her demonstrated personal and professional integrity have made her an outstanding role model in the industry. In her current role, she leads 300 team members managing end-to-end development assessment and compliance functions for Brisbane City. Taking on this role during the pandemic, she has brought a brand of connection and trust.

Peta’s leadership style inspires others to reconsider their roles in planning processes, from managing regulation to one of facilitation in partnership with others. This has led to groundbreaking initiatives that support development assessment processes, driving organizational change in unconventional times. This is built upon her ethos of continuous improvement.

Congratulations Peta!

Julia Miller-Randle leads Cred Consulting’s Queensland team, and is an industry leading and inspirational strategic and social planner and engagement specialist with almost 20 years of experience in consultancy.

Julia is passionate about communicating planning projects and systems to the community, so they can make informed decisions and engage in shaping the places where they live. In the wake of the devastating floods that struck the Northern Rivers region in early 2022, the community faced unparalleled challenges in rebuilding and recovery. Julia’s work leading the Building Back Northern Rivers Guideline for residents, businesses, community groups and landowners helped to translate complex processes into easily understandable guidance to aid people in trauma.

Julia understands the profound impact that planning has on communities, and she recognises the crucial role planners can play in creating inclusive and joyful cities. One of the ways she advocates for this is by consistently bringing the human side of planning into our projects and how we think about them.

Congratulations Julia!

Julie Saunders is a highly-respected Queensland-based planner with over 25 years of experience. Julie’s passion for serving community is demonstrated in her work across all levels of government, the not-for-profit and private sectors, with a strong focus on education, housing and health.

Julie’s significant influence and contribution to the industry, particularly in the last 12 months, leaves a lasting positive impact to not only the profession, but also the communities and outcomes which continue to benefit from Julie’s leadership, commitment and expertise.

Julie was recently selected by the Deputy Premier to Chair the renewed Housing Supply Expert Panel, an appointment which highlights her standing in Queensland with respect to the housing sector. In the context of an existing housing crisis, it is arguably one of the most important roles for a planner in Queensland at present and demonstrates her expertise and understanding of ‘bigger picture’ housing supply and demand issues. In extension to this, Julie has also been nominated to sit on the National Housing Supply Panel.

Julie is Chair of the Queensland Chapter of Learning Environments Australasia and Board Chair of BRIC Housing, further demonstrating her unwavering commitment to supporting those in need through the application of her planning expertise. BRIC Housing provides both transitional and long term social housing under a range of programs with a focus on tenant affordability.

Julie is recognised as a leader and a skilled negotiator, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and interests, to collaborate and focus on a shared purpose to achieve positive outcomes.

Julie’s recent work in 2022 in leading the collaboration between Q Shelter and industry on the ‘Go for Gold: A social inclusion legacy for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games’ project is particularly demonstrable of her positive impact. The ‘Go for Gold’ paper is a call to action, highlighting that Queensland can choose to go above and beyond the minimum Olympic legacy obligations, in the context of a sustained housing crisis where overall supply does not meet demand and where housing affordability is increasingly beyond the reach of many.

Julie inspires and motivates those across the planning profession to make a difference, striking at the heart of what it is to be an outstanding planner. She maintains a dedication to the pursuit of fairness, equity and better outcomes for communities.

Julie is both a strong supporter of and a regular contributor to the great work of the 黑料大事 in Queensland. Her involvement over the last 12 months has been wide-reaching and has included contribution to a number of professional development activities and events including as an expert panel member, active support of the PIA Awards for 黑料大事 Excellence and also supporting, celebrating and contributing to Women in 黑料大事 Network events.

Julie’s drive is demonstrated by her personal purpose statement, that each day her purpose is to improve the life of one or many through her work with communities.

Laura Gannon is a nationally-recognised land use planning, resilience and adaptation specialist with over 17 years of experience across Australia. She is one of the select few planners in Australia with a Level 3 Bushfire 黑料大事 and Design accreditation from the Fire Protection Association of Australia, which demonstrates her personal commitment to both planning practice and highly specialised advisory service.

Laura practices with passion and enthusiasm in an emergent, evolving and highly uncertain field of land use planning practice – how to balance traditional imperatives for urban growth and economic development with keeping people and place safe and resilient in a changing climate.

Laura’s professional impact is drawn from highly empathetic and community-minded personal values. Her innate emotional intelligence and intuition gives her the skills to unearth and deeply understand real community planning issues and opportunities. She applies her drive and commitment to the profession to champion for policy and practice change that is at the heart of what it is to be an outstanding planner.

Laura’s contribution to planning has been profound, particularly through leading the integration of bushfire risk management and disaster resilience into planning policy and strategy. Laura has led many projects which have contributed significantly to improving resilience and planning outcomes across Queensland and interstate. This includes the Toowoomba Region Bushfire Risk Analysis; the Kangaroo Island Bushfire Protection and Mitigation Strategy; the Burdekin and Haughton Flood Resilience Strategy; and leading an influential Position Paper and Implementation Roadmap for Recommendation 27 of the 2020 NSW Bush Fire Inquiry to enhance strategic planning approaches for bush fire in the NSW planning system.

Laura’s voluntary commitment to multiple professional associations is unparalleled, including PIA, the Fire Protection Association of Australia, Association for Fire Ecology, and the International Association of Wildland Fire. Laura was instrumental in designing and delivering PIA Hazard Hack 2021. This first of its kind event brought together policy, research, strategic and statutory planners from across Australia and internationally with a role in planning for hazards to unpack the common challenges in hazards resilience to identify pragmatic and best-practice solutions.

Laura also regularly voluntarily contributes to equipping policy, strategic and statutory planners with latest policy and practice approaches through delivery of the Queensland PIA Planet course on 黑料大事 for Bushfire Resilience. Laura has also actively supported and championed women in planning through her membership of the PIA QLD Women in 黑料大事 Network and various mentorship roles.

Bethany Williams-Holthouse is an outstanding young woman making a difference to the planning profession in the Bundaberg Region.

Bethany graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2018 with a Grade Point Average of 6.82 and a Faculty Medal for Academic Achievement. She displayed such academic excellence in her studies that she gained multiple awards including the PIA award for highest fourth year academic performance for USC (2018) as well as the Minister's Town 黑料大事 Prize for her thesis paper.

In 2017 Bethany commencement with the Bundaberg Regional Council and she quickly demonstrated a flair for helping to shape and draft policy that directly influenced the outcome of a number of strategic planning projects including amendment of the 黑料大事 Scheme to address important natural environment and economic matters. Bethany also demonstrated a flair for public consultation, successfully engaging with local residents in a number of local planning projects that resulted in positive feedback for these plans and also resulted in a higher level of community engagement.

In addition to her policy drafting work as a Strategic Planner, Bethany has also taken it upon herself to spearhead Council’s heritage program. With much of the work done in her own time, Bethany has single-handily organised the last two Open House events for Bundaberg which has provided a massive boost for the awareness of the importance of built cultural heritage in our region and she is now guiding Council’s participation in the National Trust’s Heritage Festival. Bethany has also volunteered over a number of years to participate in our schools’ program, where she and other Council planners visit local schools to run planning related workshops, presentations and help teachers judge place making assignments.

Bethany is a fantastic role model for other young women at Council. Through her hard work and dedication to task, Bethany provides a great example for the other women who are just starting their careers in planning. Bethany’s expertise in policy also sees many planners in the team, not just women, seek her out for advice and guidance. Bethany also takes the time to assist, provide advice and mentoring for junior staff completing their studies. Based on Bethany’s outstanding contributions in both planning and leadership, she has joined the leadership group of Council’s land use planning team.

As a planner passionate in heritage, strategic planning and resilience management, Bethany contributes deeply to the planning profession. Importantly, through her mentoring work, both at a school and university level, Bethany also contributes to significantly to the growth of other planners, and future planners, including women.

Laurel is widely respected as a planner with a commitment to social justice and achieving outcomes for communities. She manages a social planning consultancy and she is an academic in urban and regional planning at the University of Queensland.

Laurel is an award-winning educator, planning practitioner and urban policy strategist. She is highly regarded by her peers and students for her thorough and independent advice. She is a strong advocate for technical, professional and design excellence in planning and development and has worked with stakeholders to facilitate solutions to issues including affordable and appropriate housing, resident resistance to densification, transport justice, climate change and place making with purpose.

Laurel was one of the first social planners in the Queensland Government. She progressed to manage Queensland’s social impact assessment unit, where she was influential in embedding good social impact assessment practice in the assessment of major projects.

Laurel’s project work has included management of the South East Queensland Regional Forest Agreement ensured that social impacts were considered alongside the economic and environmental implications of tenure change in the State’s native forest estate.

She won a National PIA award in 2012 for her contribution to the Redland City Council Child and Youth Friendly Design Guide and was judge for the community and social planning awards (PIA Qld) for many years.

Laurel’s PhD was awarded in 2020. Her PhD thesis was titled ‘Missing the Bus: transport disadvantage and social disadvantage in south east Queensland’ into the relationship between transport disadvantage and social disadvantage. Her research was directly responsible for new transport infrastructure and services in the most socially disadvantaged area in the south east.

In her time at UQ since 2011, Laurel has mentored the next generation of urban planners to understand the ‘lived experience’ of communities and citizens.

Laurel is an active member of her community including being a member of the Inala Community Hub Projects Management Committee.

She has spent her career addressing social disadvantage as a key consideration in planning and has inspired many others to do the same.

While Jennifer Morrissy’s planning career spans more than 20 years in local government and in consultancy, she has dedicated the last 10 years to being an expert witness in the 黑料大事 and Environment Court. Jennifer is now one of Queensland’s most prominent and well-respected planning expert witnesses.

Jennifer consistently demonstrates integrity and honesty. She is a trusted advocate who seeks sound planning outcomes from the appeals process that are in the public interest.

Her professional and methodical approach to providing expert evidence has helped to define, or redefine, best practice for development assessment processes, some of which are now accepted as standard practice and used by all practitioners in Queensland.

Jennifer’s involvement in Ashvan Investments Unit Trust v Brisbane City Council & Ors [2019] QPEC 16 was one of the first cases that clarified how to interpret and implement planning policy in the context of the 黑料大事 Act 2016. Her evidence in Black Ink Architecture v Ipswich City Council [2020] QPEC 13 was also one of the first cases in the State to consider climate change implications for flood risk, as a relevant matter in development assessment and the management of vulnerable land uses in higher risk areas of the Brisbane River floodplain.

Jennifer’s commitment and influence to planning extends beyond the courtroom. She continues to be at the forefront of bridging the gap between the legal profession and the broader planning profession. She is actively involved in PIA and QELA where she participates in numerous planning seminars, including throughout 2020, sharing her skills and knowledge of expert services with the planning community.

Jennifer is also influential in the professional development of emerging planning experts, particularly women. An advocate for ‘giving back’, in 2020, Jennifer was also a dedicated mentor for the QELA Expert Witness course, supporting course participants.

Jennifer is well respected by all stakeholders working in the 黑料大事 and Environment Court system and has an enviable success record. She has established herself as a leading expert in an area of planning that is difficult to enter into and is historically dominated by men.

Her technical capability and personal and professional accomplishments are inspirational.

The judging panel considers that Natalie is a very worthy recipient of the second annual Outstanding Woman in 黑料大事 Award, having made an outstanding contribution to planning in Queensland during the 2019 calendar year.

Natalie was nominated by her colleagues at Wolter Consulting for her unwavering commitment to better planning outcomes and advancement of the profession in her work and advocacy alike, as well as for her dedication to and support for other women in planning.

Natalie is a co-founder of YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard), a not-for-profit organisation which challenges homogeneous thinking about planning and development issues. YIMBY advocates for good development which delivers a community dividend, based on design excellence, sustainability, and innovation.

Natalie is also a committee member on both HIA and Property Council committees and is a board member of both QShelter (a leading peak body advocating for improved housing outcomes) and Beddown, a registered charity providing pop-up accommodation and services in otherwise vacant urban spaces for those vulnerable to homelessness.

The judging panel believes that, in 2019, Natalie advanced planning thinking in key policy areas, particularly housing, and routinely demonstrated the value of articulate and informed planning advocacy, delivered in the public interest.

Congratulations again Natalie and thank you to all those who took the time to recognise the achievements of women in planning in QLD by submitting a nomination for this year’s award.

Demonstrated outstanding commitment to planning work (either project or operational, and paid or as a volunteer)

Nikki is a passionate public voice for planning in regional communities, and:

Has an audience of more than 325,000 people, through a monthly (breakfast) and bi-monthly (afternoon) talk back drive time local radio program (ABC) where residents seek answers on planning matters such as managing wallabies in suburbia to the challenges of planning on the moon.

Has her own bi-monthly column that discusses contemporary planning challenges in ‘Tropic Now’ a local magazine dedicated to the promotion of Cairns.

A project that is testament to Nikki’s commitment to meaningful planning outcomes for communities is the 2018 DSDMIP Innovation and Improvement Fund project to improve statutory planning for 15 Aboriginal Councils. In initiating the project, Nikki recognised that it takes time and experience to understand planning and to build the explicit and tacit knowledge. Most local governments have had at least 30 years of evolving these systems, however Aboriginal Councils have been in the statutory planning system for just 20% of that time. The project addressed a significant gap across regional Queensland.

Demonstrated outstanding contribution to the planning profession in Queensland, either in a leadership or operational role, volunteer work or mentoring.

In 2018 Nikki co-facilitated the Urban Thinkers Campus as part of The New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat). The UTC was undertaken in collaboration with JCU and both Townsville and Cairns City Councils – and won the QPIA Public Engagement and Community 黑料大事 award.

In 2018 Nikki was made a Fellow of PIA and throughout the year she presented 4 papers at QELA, the QPIA state conference and the FNQ 黑料大事 forum.

In addition to participating in the PIA Mentoring program, Nikki provided three paid student planning work placements to JCU students and is a foundational (voluntary) member of JCU’s Tropical Urbanism Design Lab – of industry, government and academics dedicated to finding solutions to urban challenges faced by tropical communities.

Demonstrated outstanding support for women in the profession, a related profession or not-for-profit organisation.

As the sole director of her own firm, Nikki has established a flexible, inclusive and family friendly workplace. Nikki employs two working mothers, a part-time Indigenous planning student and two full time female planners. A flexible workplace can be resource intensive however it speaks to her values of family, diversification and ultimately creating great communities. The importance of supporting female planners returning to work after 5 – 10 years out of the industry is significant, and in the FNQ Region there are just 5 female planners (of the 120 total public and private sector) that have returned to planning after they start their families.

In 2018, Nikki also supported the elevation of two female PIA Fellows and the successful nomination of a female for Queensland Planner of the year.