Three Perth universities are challenging Curtin University’s previously held monopoly on accredited town planning education, with new courses in the discipline being introduced at the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University in 2007.
The universities are yet to obtain accreditation for their programs from the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), although the first intake of students has commenced study at each school.
Architecture firm Hames Sharley executive chairman, William Hames, says a variety of town planning programs will allow schools to develop specialisations.
“You’ll get a much greater diversity of graduates. People will be able to make choices about where they want to go and where they will get certain strengths,” he said.
Mr Hames sits on the ECU advisory board for the planning program, and says the new course, part of the faculty of business and law, will provide a point of difference by focusing on business and legal issues.
“Certainly, business, law and commerce are all skills that a planner requires, so that’s an advantage,” Mr Hames said.
Murdoch University’s program will prioritise community engagement and sustainability issues, while UWA’s program will seek to develop future leaders for government agencies and the private sector.
Graduates of the new town planning courses could number around 100 in 2010, based on figures supplied by the universities for their four-year undergraduate bachelor of planning degrees.
Murdoch University’s Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy lecturer Alan Johnstone says flooding the market with newly-qualified planners is a risk.
“We are concerned that with all these universities offering courses and without a background in this area, that may create problems for graduates when they all graduate at the same time,” he said.
However, UWA senior lecturer and program co-ordinator for urban and regional planning, Dr Paul Maginn, said in the current skills shortage this was unlikely to be an issue.
“There is a dire need for planners in WA, indeed across Australia,” he said.
“The boom looks like it’s going to continue for quite a while, so as long as it continues, we’re going to have a greater need for planners in the public and private sectors.”
Planning Minister Alannah MacTiernan said it was important to create a greater diversity of skill sets in graduates.
“I also think it’s important to have a diversity of schools, so that not everyone is coming through from the same perspective,” she said.
