Place-making - in theory and practice: The Stanley 'Guided' Development Plan model

All over Australia, small regional towns are undergoing change in their populations and economies. The coastal Tasmanian town of Stanley is no different. However, for those who spend any time there, Stanley is not commonplace at all. Stanley has a significant historical built heritage and a sense of locality and identity that remains vibrant and attractive for residents and visitors. It is a distinctive, particular and special place, unlike any other. These are features that must be respected, protected and preserved for Stanley's future prosperity.

Experience tells us that not all 'development' is positive. Any change has the potential to affect a place and the way we experience it in a negative fashion. Change alone does not constitute positive development. What results from change without continuity is often discordant antl chaotic. On the other hand, positive development cannot be achieved by resisting change. What results from continuity without change is often static or stagnant. Development is most positive when it is synergistic - when it facilitates and supports change within an overall context of continuity. The elaboration of a positive development plan for Stanley involves recommending change, but also commending continuities.

The task of formulating a positive development plan for Stanley is twofold: to identify valuable features of Stanley's environment, community and economy in order to safeguard their c~ntinuity, and to identify those that can or need to change without jeopardising that continuity. The sustainable development of Stanley depends upon understanding what defines it as well as the will and the ability of those committed to it to steward a process of change and continuity that ensures Stanley's integrity and vitality. This chapter emphasise's the theoretical and methodological approaches that together created the synergistic model for the Stanley Guided Development Plan. It demonstrates the linkages between this model and its capacity, not to impose a plan from without, but rather a plan that 'reveals' Stanley from within, giving rise to a positive development plan.