Environmental Planning as a practice and a personal experience - A focus on Western Australia

I have been working in the area of environmental planning for over 35 years and, through my practice, study, reading, teaching and working with government agencies, have developed a comprehensive understanding of a range of topics within the environmental planning discipline. I have finally written a book on this discipline, with a particular focus on Australia and WA. This book has been nine years in the making. It is aimed at a general audience including students, practitioners, educators and the general public. It covers the technical, legislative and policy context of the subject but is written is a way that is understandable to anyone who who has an interest in environmental planning. Whilst this book does have technical, legislative and policy information, it is also personal. It is my take on the elements of environmental planning, so you will hear my views on some key issues. I will also include personal insights and stories, as well as my professional observations where I have been involved in a particular issue or project.

There are eleven chapters, which are listed below:

• Chapter 1 - Scope - defining and environmental and sustainability planning;

• Chapter 2 - Geomorphology of the Swan Coastal Plain;

• Chapter 3 - Biodiversity Planning;

• Chapter 4 - Water Resources 1 - Overview, groundwater surface water, wetlands and policy and regulation;

• Chapter 5 - Water Resources 2 - Urban stormwater and its management;

• Chapter 6 - Water Resources 3  - The Coast - coastal processes, coastal planning and management;

• Chapter 7 - Brown issues;

• Chapter 8 - Climate change;

• Chapter 9 - Environmental impact assessment;

• Chapter 10 - Risk and uncertainty in environmental planning; and

• Chapter 11 - Decisions making in environmental planning.

When you click on this link you can read the first section of each chapter, and, if interested, you can purchase a pdf or ePub (eBook) version of the book or separate chapters by clicking here. As noted elsewhere - all photographs are taken my me (Garry Middle) and I claim copyright for all the photographs on this website.

Forward to the Book

However, as I started writing this book, I noticed that it lacked something. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I found that I kept starting and re-starting the writing, and I never felt inspired by what I was writing. In early 2018 I finished reading the ‘Binti’ trilogy of books by Nnedi Okorafor. At the end of the last book she concluded with the usual thanks but also talked about her writing process. Here’s an extract from that:

When winter break arrived, the moment I took off my professor hat to give the writer’s cap that I always wear some fresh air, whatever it is that takes hold of me to make me write descended on me. So first and foremost I want to thank that thing that grabs, that whispers, that urgently tells.

I realised that this was what was missing in my book. The thing that was whispering to me was that this book needs to be more than just a textbook – it needs to be personal as well. Becoming an environmental planner wasn’t a sudden thing or quantum leap after finishing a degree or being appointed to a certain position, but it was a gradual process. I can’t remember when I started calling myself an environmental planner, but I noticed that as my career built I became connected to what I was planning – i.e. the environment. It is part of who I am, my character and my sense of place.

In recent years I have been exploring my personal and deeper connection to nature. In part, it arose from supervising a Ph.D. student, who is now a person friend. Rebecca Scherini’s topic was

Land use planners can address the problems of the Anthropocene by fostering human connections to nonhuman nature through ‘embodied immersive experiences’ in ‘natural spaces’ and becoming embodied practitioners.

Rebecca’s work pushed me way beyond my comfort zone, but did force me to look at my relationship with nature.

Another part has been my experience as the chair of the Great Victoria Desert Biodiversity Trust, our work with the Tradition Owners (TOs), and my visits to the desert. When I started working with TOs ‘on-Country’ I started to get a better understanding of how they connect to Country. It can never be a full understanding, but I learnt and felt more each time. On one trip to the desert, we were driving around visiting various sites, and on one stop we decided to take a closer look at one of the sand dunes so climbed to the top of one. We were all chatting as we walk to and climbed the dune, but when we got to the top we all fell silent and took in the vastness of the country – see photo below. For me, I felt a sudden and real connection to nature there and then, and it seemed to last for a long time, but in reality perhaps less than a minute. I think the second photo taken with my drone captures the vastness.

This book does have technical, legislative and policy information, but it is also personal. It is my take on the elements of environmental planning, so you will hear my views on some key issues. I will also include personal insights and stories, as well as my professional observations where I have been involved in a particular issue or project.

Plate 1: Top of a sand dune in the Great Victoria Desert – where I first really felt a connection with nature

Plate 2: Drone photo of Great Victoria Desert sand dune landscape

I am also a keen photographer, and so I have included my photos to illustrate some key points and issues.

So, what I have tried to do in writing this book is to appeal to a broader audience beyond just university students doing environmental studies looking for a text book. I hope the personal stories, observations and perspectives will provide the reader with a deeper understanding and perspective of environmental planning.

I have tried to organise the chapters in a logical order as follows. Chapter 1 is a discussion of the nature, scope and extent of environmental planning, and Chapter 2 covers local geomorphology focusing on the Swan Coastal Plain. Chapter 3 covers ‘green’ issues or biodiversity, and the next three chapters covering ‘blue’ issues – water resources, urban water and coast. Chapter 7 covers ‘brown’ issues – air quality and pollution, and Chapter 8 covers climate change. Chapter 9 describes the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, and Chapter 10 is a discussion of risk and uncertainty in decision making.

The final chapter is a personal exploration of how environmental planning can make ‘good’ decisions. It covers the dilemmas decision makers have to face and ends with a description of the skill set that a environmental planner needs to make those ‘good’ decisions.

February 2023.