ELA’s next generation contributing to meaningful change
Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Making meaningful change isn’t as easy as bringing fresh ideas to the table. You have to have a seat at the table first.
ELA’s Daniel Panickar was given this opportunity last month when he was selected to join the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) WA environment committee for a 2-year appointment. He tells us about this exciting achievement with the peak body representing the property development industry throughout Australia and his hopes for using his position to suggest new approaches and make a difference, for both the urban development industry and the environment.
Daniel Panickar (State Manager and Bushfire Lead, WA)
How were you chosen for the role on the UDIA committee?
I’ve been on the Young Leaders Committee with UDIA for several years. I was lucky enough to win the UDIA Young Development Professional of the Year award for WA in November last year, shortly after which I was nominated and selected for the committee. Many committee members are Director level with 20 odd years’ experience in their field, so for someone young like me to be invited to contribute is really humbling and a real privilege.
What do you hope to contribute during your time on the committee?
There’s a lot of changes happening both at a state and commonwealth level in terms of environmental legislation. My ideal goal is to be able to synthesise that information and make sure that not only consultants but also our clients know their requirements so we can help them to effect positive change. For example, clearing of vegetation for urban development is not always well understood in terms of environmental values and cumulative impacts. By analysing the spatial distribution to vegetation communities within a region, we gain a more detailed understanding of impacts, which is a significant initiative for the development industry. I’d like to be able to drive initiatives that are cost effective and result in a much better outcome for the environment based on our collective knowledge.
You’re in quite a few committees, what stood out about this one?
It’s a committee that’s so highly regarded across Australia and is a a great place to effect change as many of the committee members are leaders in the environmental industry or developers themselves. It’s an opportunity to not only learn from the highly experienced committee members, but hopefully challenge the status quo and suggest other ways of doing things.
Tell us about a couple of exciting projects you have been working on?
The Bushfire Resilience project in The Great Southern, is improving the bushfire safety outcome for several of our vulnerable tourist towns on the south coast of WA. That one fills me with a pretty big sense of responsibility to be trying to incorporate bushfire management strategies along with environmental approvals and requirements as well as community values.
Another one we’re working on is a large industrial area that will provide development opportunities for the next 100 years. With this project we’re trying to do things a bit differently, instead of dealing with each industrial project separately in a piecemeal basis, we’re combining them into a single strategic environmental assessment and approval. The result will mean greater certainty for developments, such as streamlined approvals and overall improvement to conservation in the region. By setting aside larger parcels of land for conservation purposes we can achieve a more substantial outcome for the environment.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
The diversity. I couldn’t be pigeonholed or siloed into a certain area and ELA really facilitate that diversity. My biggest passion is trying to effect meaningful change. My job challenges me to think about things strategically and find better ways to do things we’ve done for a long time.
What’s next?
I’m currently working with the committee to think about new ways to engage and diversify our portfolio of young professionals in the industry as well as drive initiatives in environmental management, climate change and sustainability. I’m excited to be a nominee for the National UDIA Young Development Professional Awards next month, so it will be great to get a chance to meet lots of people in the industry doing inspiring work all over Australia.