Coast population growth challenges planning students
Wed 11 November 2009
Renee Skelly, Bachelor of Journalism
Population growth on the Sunshine Coast has always been scrutinised in terms of the property market, but university students learn there are often other more complex issues involved.
On October 1, 2009 the Australian population reached 22 million people- a milestone achieved much sooner than the Australian Bureau of Statistics had once predicted.
Experts say the country’s population was not expected to reach 23.5 million until 2051, but some now claim that by that time it is more likely 35 million will call Australia home.
McCrindle Research social researcher Mark McCrindle predicted that if current growth rates continue the population may even exceed 40 million by the middle of this century.
The Sunshine Coast Daily reported leading Australian demographer Bernard Salt recently spoke at a conference on the Sunshine Coast.
He acknowledged the hesitation of many residents towards encouraging any extensive population growth but told the conference he believed there would be a cultural “transition” within the next 20 years.
“In 1979, if they had said ‘We don’t want a place of 300,000 people’, the Sunshine Coast as we know it wouldn’t exist,” he said.
The annual State of the Region Summit analyses population growth and trends and is held each year in November.
2009 will be the fifth conference held on the Sunshine Coast to discuss concerns and issues facing the area.
Industry experts continued to acknowledge the real effects of issues raised at the 2008 summit including the impact of the global financial market on property sales locally.
Ray White Real Estate Maroochydore director and auctioneer Dan Sowden said that while the population was increasing, the growth demographic was that of an ageing population which was not sustainable over the long-term.
Mr Sowden said the Sunshine Coast is largely unaffordable (and subsequently unappealing to first-home buyers) when compared with other regional centres with similar infrastructure.
He said essentially, “poor planning” on behalf of the Council (which could be traced back to before the amalgamation of the three areas) led to higher costs on new house and land packages.
“Infrastructure costs imposed by the council amount to around 30-40 per cent of the costs of construction and developers have no choice but to pass this down the chain to buyers through higher prices,” he said.
Even so, within the newer developments on the Sunshine Coast, housing type and density had changed dramatically over the last 20 years.
“600m2 blocks are a now considered a luxury,” he said.
As a result, there had been a noticeable trend in the industry known as the “green change” as buyers seek to maintain a reasonable sized backyard.
Buderim was one of the areas Mr Sowden said had remained consistent even throughout the economic downturn, with more than 30 sales worth more than $1 million or more, in the area in the past year.
“Buderim was the third largest market by postcode in Queensland, over the last 12 months,” he said.
The biggest issue that threatened the sustainability of the Sunshine Coast population according to Mr Sowden, was the need to attract another, less volatile industry to the Sunshine Coast.
“Almost half the employment on the Sunshine Coast is derived out of development or tourism. That’s high risk,” he said.
All the more reason many university students were enrolling in the Bachelor of Regional and Urban Planning degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Associate professor and program leader Johanna Rosier said the four year degree was structured around a “building blocks approach” to learning.
“During the first two years, the students are learning skills which they will use in the various ‘studio’ and ‘practicum’ courses in the final two years of the degree,” she said.
Although population studies were not a specific focus of the degree, the effects of population growth had an impact on all aspects of planning.
“In the core part of the program students don’t do population projections, but instead are learning how to deal with the implications of issues such as population growth,” she said.
A key ethos within the mission statement of the University of the Sunshine Coast was to promote “sustainable advancement of the region” through community engagement.
Dr Rosier said this was achieved through involvement of industry stakeholders and council members with students at various stages of the degree program.
“We liaise a lot…There is seven out of 12 core courses for which we depend on the profession to give us problems and case studies for our students to solve. There is a lot of involvement with the profession itself and advice from these people on the structure of the program,” she said. 
Students said the broad nature of the degree prepared them well for their careers. Second-year student Kevin McKenzie appreciated that while he was still mainly studying the concepts that surrounded planning issues, the opportunities for practical placements were advantageous for graduates.
“Many of the third and fourth year subjects are really hands-on with a focus on real-life planning issues. I know that the experience of working with industry experts on the Sunshine Coast will look great on my CV when I graduate,” he said.
Image(s) designed by Renee Skelly