Site Research

This section should help you define what you need to know about the site

Research

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are a person or group that has some type of interest in your project. Some stakeholders don’t seem they would have a direct interest in your project however decisions you make can have an impact on their goals and infrastructure.

Examples of Stakeholders

Demographics

Who are the people that are going to be using your site and how do you effectively represent their tastes, culture, requirements, lifestyle?

• How much time do they have?

• Do they like being outside?

• Does your grandmother come around for dinner?

• What are their interests

• Do they have pets?

Dial Before You Dig

Dial before you dig is an Australian service which coordinates the acquisition of information on the assets which are above, on and under your site and the surrounding site. These might include, gas, water, sewerage, storm water, internet, easements, tram tracks etc.

On the website you lodge a request for a particular site or area, and it contacts the service owners on your behalf. The individual service holders will then email you copies of plans of the assets which they own within the boundary you have defined.

The plans you will receive are often in quite low resolution and on top of this they may have been installed in slightly different positions in reality.

Landscape Guidelines

In Australia individual councils create Landscape Guidelines. These are sets of rules for the submission of plans as part of the planning permit process. This means that they are usually relevant when a site is being rebuilt, built for the first time, or significantly renovated.

The guideline will tell you what documentation needs to be provided and in what format. It will also often have some general rules for things such as mulching, plant coverage, plant choices.

Zoning and Overlays

Zones

Biome and EVC

Biomes

In Australia we have larger biomes including Temperate Forest, Desert, Savanna, and Tropical Rainforest. Each of these are made up of eco-regions. In Victoria for example we have Temperate Forest which is made up of Southeast Australia Temperate Forest. Stretching up into NSW is Eastern Australia Temperate Forest and we also have some isolated Australian Alps Montane Grasslands and Shrublands.

Bioregions

Within Victoria there 28 bioregions which are classified based on the climate, geology, vegetation, soils, and geomorphology

EVC

An EVC is an Ecological Vegetation Class. Within a bioregion you will find multiple EVCs.

The department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning has an online mapping service to identify bioregions and EVCs for a site called NatureKit.

You will be able to find what bioregions and EVCs are applicable to your site and then extract a PDF of the Bioregions and EVCs. This benchmark document will tell you about Tree canopy cover, understorey, typical species, organic litter cover and weeds common to the region.

Biodiversity

Visit:

Visualising Victoria’s Biodiversity

Atlas of Living Australia

Naturekit

Soil and Geology

The soil on your site is the biggest determinant of your success with vegetation. TERN provides you with open data visualised on maps here

GeoVic has great information but you must remember to add in layers of the datasets that you want to see.

Biophysical Factors

The individual biological and physical forces that make up an ecology. Involves biological and physical factors or considerations.

Example. Relationship between the sun patterns across the year and the growth of a plant.

Getting Base Plan Data

For large civic projects it can be helpful to obtain CAD or GIS files to help you get started.

Link

Water

For information on ground water and bores visit Visualising Victoria’s Groundwater

For information on water body quality visit Waterwatch Map Portal

Weeds

A weed is a a plant that grows wild where you don’t want it to.

Definitions

Noxious Weeds / State Prohibited Weeds - Noxious weeds are state legislated as they do or could cause environmental or economic harm. It is most common that they have potential for economic loss.

Environmental Weeds - Environmental weeds grow through native bushland and can be exotic or from other parts of Australia.

Common weeds for your area can be found on Bioregion/EVC Benchmarks and often on council website. The department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning has put out a list of Environmental weeds in Victoria here

Weather

Climate Data from the Bureau of Meteorology

Historical Context

What is the Indigenous history of the site?

Heritage Register

The heritage council Victoria has a database the Victorian Heritage Database which charts registered historical places, objects, buildings, trees etc.

Session Outline

How to Research

• Stakeholders

• Overlays and Zoning

• Biomes

• Biodiversity

• EVC

• Soil and Geology

• Weeds

• Weather

• Historical Context

Resources

• Environmental weeds in Victoria List -Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

• Overlays and Zoning Mapshare - department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

• Bioregions and EVCs NatureKit - department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

• DataVic Datasets - Victorian Government

Case Study

Quarry Job

Activity