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Engineers delivering the community's aspirations

Delegates from across Australia met recently in Melbourne for the 9th National Local Government Engineering Conference. Held biennially, the theme selected for the 1997 Conference was 'Local Government Engineers: Delivering the Community's Aspirations'.

Then Federal President of the Institute of Municipal Engineering Australia, Peter Way, said that the Conference had lived up to all expectations, setting yet another benchmark or a higher standard to aspire to in future years.

"A stimulating program, addressing quality of living, through a smorgasbord of papers and technical tours, it covered virtually all contemporary issues impacting on Local Government," Peter Way said.

Conference Chairman, Ian Robins, said that the Conference aimed to challenge delegates on new ways to meet their community's aspirations. He added that, although there is no typical Local Government Authority, there are definite commonalities, such as working for continuous improvement and providing leadership to the community.

In officially opening the 9th National Conference, Governor of Victoria, Sir James Gobbo, pointed to the fact that engineers must handle complex design and technical problems, alongside an increasing liability for public infrastructure safety.

"At the same time, the community's aspirations must be addressed in an informed way, not based on hunches about what we believe the community wants, but good research," Sir James said. "To do this, we must understand our community. We have a multicultural Australia, that is continually adding to the richness of community."

David Rhodes, Director of Public Works with the City of Boulder in Colorado, USA, was the keynote speaker. Describing his City as a very liberal, outspoken, political hotbed, sometimes referred to as the 'Republic of Boulder', the community has long been active in environment and quality of life issues.

"As early as the 1950s, the community recognised that growth was not always an asset but could lead to a degradation in quality of life," he said. "Keen to preserve the City's magnificent mountain backdrop, through a Citizens' Initiative Ballot, a blue line was drawn so no Council services could be provided above that line. Residents also agreed to pay a tax for the development of open space. Open space now accounts for twice the area of urban development."

David Rhodes posed the question, how do you measure quality of life or what makes one community better than another?

He said that in Boulder the community has a firm belief that development should pay its own way and not create any negative impacts. This has led to a specific charge for both residential and commercial development, as well as a ceiling on how many new projects are approved each year.

"Transport is currently our biggest issue," David Rhodes said. "The City will spend no more on private vehicle transport, instead all resources are going to alternatives such as bicycles, pedestrians and small transit buses.

"We need to educate people about the true cost of travel, roads, vehicles, petrol, pollution, insurance, hospitals, courts, police and so forth. Get people to discuss the issue and look at alternatives. Quality of life is worth going to work on. Engineers have the capacity to make huge impacts on the quality of our lives and our children's lives."

Incoming Federal President of IMEA is Chris Watson, Director of Engineering Services at Rockdale Council in New South Wales. The 10th National Conference, scheduled for 1999, will be staged in Sydney.

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