You are invited to join me for a Community Forum on Housing and Planning at the Malvern Town Hall.

My special guests will be:

Peter Mares
Peter is an independent writer and researcher and the author of No Place Like Home: Repairing Australia’s Housing Crisis. Peter regularly writes about housing and public policy for Inside Story magazine and other media outlets. He is an adjunct senior research fellow at Monash University’s School of Media, Film and Journalism, a moderator at Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership and a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development. Previously, Peter spent 25 years as a broadcaster with the ABC.

Mike Scott

Mike Scott is convenor of Charter 29, a group of independent planning and design professionals who work pro bono to try to improve the planning of Victoria.  After senior roles in local government, he co-founded the consultancy Planisphere, which specialised in activity centre planning, urban and landscape character assessment and community engagement.  He is now semi-retired. Charter 29 recently released the report Plan for Victoria and the Planning System Reforms (available on www.charter29.com), which attempts to sort fact from the fiction on the radical shake-up currently being rolled-out by the State government.  

We will discuss Australia's current housing and planning challenges and opportunities, and will address the Victorian government’s proposed changes to planning, including the nine designated Activity Zones in the electorate of Kooyong. Community groups, housing and planning experts and State government representatives have been invited to attend.