The brief internal paper Determining Land Use was written in 1984 as a guide for staff of the Metropolitan Parks Branch of the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works. During that era (1980s), the Branch was taking occupation of numerous properties zoned Proposed Public Open Space, many of them worn out or run down (given that sale to the Board was more or less inevitable). Field staff were required to assess properties and decide whether to manage them for environmental conservation or develop for some form of public recreation, or something else. The paper is signed by Tony Whitham, but is marked in Trevor Arthur’s handwriting as by Geoff Edwards.

Roll on two decades, and the same Geoff Edwards in the Department of Natural Resources and Mines in Queensland, wrote a more sophisticated and comprehensive paper with a similar purpose. However, the scope of the land uses that departmental officers (who were the target audience of this Resource Planning Guideline) were from time to time required to evaluate were much broader, covering virtually all the land uses for which various parcels of Crown land could be allocated. This Guideline F9 Determining Most Appropriate Use was published in 2005 and appeared briefly on the Department’s website.

There is a subtext implied by the term “most appropriate use”. This concept is one grounded in public interest, and not in economic profit. It is in tension with the term “highest and best use” that is widely used as the basis of planning in planning schemes and water allocation. “Highest and best” implies the most intensive or economically profitable use (as determined by the market) that can be permitted under the regulations in force; “most appropriate” implies the use that maximises the benefit to the community, deriving from the intrinsic attributes of the land nestled in its locality; with economic potential, being only one criterion. The difference between these two concepts is explained in other papers in this series of Resource Planning Guidelines, obtainable by request to PaRC or from Trove.

River Red Gums Management Plan (20MB)

The River Red Gum Parks Management Plan (RRGPMP) is a strategic guide for managing and protecting five national parks and more than 100 other parks and reserves that comprise the planning area in northern Victoria. This plan takes a multi-park approach within a geographic landscape covering over 215 000 ha of parks and reserves.

The RRGPMP is the largest landscape based management plan produced. It covers the Murray, Goulburn and Ovens river corridors. The River Red Gum has been voted the most popular tree in Australia, with its inland river environments presenting the classic Australian ecosystem. Many generations of Australians have camped on these rivers, and have enjoyed the shade under the red gums. A diverse ecosystem of animals depend on the gums as do many towns along the rivers.

This management plan involved a team of authors and took 10 years to complete. It is registered in both the National Library in Canberra as well as being noted by the United Nations. Of particular note is the extensive narrative and actions  in the MP regarding the RAMSAR wetlands that form a significant portion of the landscape.