Ratio’s Transport Planning team has been assisting Councils around Victoria by analysing and suggesting improvements using the Department of Transport and Planning’s Movement & Place framework.
As a common language for integrating land use and transport planning, Movement and Place recognises that streets are for more than solely moving people and goods as efficiently as possible. They can be destinations of their own, for people to socialise, play and enjoy while recognising that they provide an important movement function.
There is an inherent conflict within Movement and Place, most prominent in activity centre areas where the main street often serves a dual purpose as a higher order road and a place for people to recreate.
We are often engaged by local government clients to undertake movement and access studies in established activity centres. These studies help our clients plan for the future and include catering for changing conditions such as increased residential density and employment floor area or changed visitation characteristics.
Ratio has embraced the Movement and Place framework as an improved way of integrating transport and land use, bringing together multiple disciplines, establishing aspirations for our street network and testing potential future options.
The Movement and Place framework can be applied within metropolitan and regional settings, as it clearly highlights the gaps between existing performance and the project’s specific priorities and objectives.
Yarra Ranges Council is known for their excellent urban design work, including the recent award-winning project in nearby Monbulk. The Council began to define their vision for Healesville by commencing preliminary studies to inform a future draft urban design framework.
Ratio’s team, including transport engineering, planning and urban design expertise, was engaged by Yarra Ranges Council to undertake a Movement and Place assessment to work towards their goal of making the township a place where people want to spend their leisure time and can move around with ease.
Our team identified opportunities to improve the activity centre of Healesville, which centres around the Maroondah Highway, a key thoroughfare connecting metropolitan Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and North Eastern Victoria. Taking a precinct approach to the study, Ratio’s team highlighted a range of safety, placemaking and walkability improvements around the township. We identified several challenges, including the inherent conflict between the movement of vehicles and goods through the town and popular tourist and local attractions such as local breweries, bakeries, and the nearby Yarra Valley.
In many similar projects, a movement study and a place study are undertaken independently. To assist the Yarra Ranges Council in determining the priorities and best possible outcomes for the streets of Healesville, Ratio’s team applied the Movement and Place framework as a key input for the future draft urban design framework.
The Movement and Place framework, developed by the Department of Transport, was used to define a vision for Healesville. By balancing the competing priorities of the activity centre, the framework helped to understand the gaps between the existing performance and long-term aspirational performance.
We look forward to seeing the draft urban design framework come to life soon through community engagement and further investigations.
Ratio is a multidisciplinary team that includes transport planning and engineering, urban design, landscape architecture, town planning, waste management, and the circular economy.
The Movement and Place framework allows our diverse team to work together in a coordinated manner and deliver the best possible outcomes for the streets and places we live.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our Movement and Place team, contact us at mail@ratio.com.au
