The mill should have been 3D modelled

Norma Jamieson Independent Member for Mersey

It is a design tool enabling all participants to test, explore and be involved in the design process and solutions, before mega dollars are spent. The importance of this type of technological tool is increasingly important as communities and planners face much more complex issues and decisions eg the current pulp mill development, Ralph’s Bay, Penguin heritage, Launceston Gorge house.

MR PRESIDENT, my topic today will come as no surprise. Three dimensional visualisation, sometimes known as virtual reality, technology has been around in other countries for many years.

It is the visualisation and the free movement together, as a common language, accessible both to and between the general public and professionals, that makes 3D modelling such a powerful planning and communication tool.

Implementing a visualisation system has broader considerations than just the technical. Experience has shown that the smaller the gap we can achieve between the social, cultural, administration issues and the technical delivery, then the greater the success in planning.

It is a design tool enabling all participants to test, explore and be involved in the design process and solutions, before mega dollars are spent. The importance of this type of technological tool is increasingly important as communities and planners face much more complex issues and decisions eg the current pulp mill development, Ralph’s Bay, Penguin heritage, Launceston Gorge house.

No one computer programme can serve all purposes, the aim being with this technology to provide a customised service that meets the needs of individual situations, independently and without bias. The method used for developing virtual realities is based on geographical information systems, known as GIS, and data sources which provide planning accuracy to scale. This is an important distinction from artist’s impressions.

The technology also gives us a visualisaton of the future, years ahead, as well as resurrect the past, as Members may have seen on TV programs, such as the UK based “Time Team” where virtual re-construction of historical sites gives viewers an experience of the past and the recent ABC program on the potential effects on coasts of sea- levels rising along the Gold Coast, for example.

Other applications of 3D modelling include marketing, education[ including training and course development before huge expenditure associated with implementation], environment sustainability in any given circumstances, assessing impacts of traffic movements, demographics, tracking and recording indicators over a specified time- frame, weather patterns and sea level changes, to name but a few.

We should ask ,why this technology has been so slow to be implemented, if it is the answer to all our planning challenges. The impact of its implementation requires a significant shift in the way we think, act and work together. It also is threatening for some, and organisational change would be required, such as the powerbase within governments and community business.

However, Mr President we need to be pro- active and planners should keep ahead lest they risk becoming inconsequential, as there is a growing technological sophistication in the general community which will demand more accountability from decision- makers. Topically, 3D modelling would have expeditiously enhanced the whole of the Pulp mill assessment, the now and the future, without the public division we are currently experiencing, because the various data and interests could have been super- imposed onto the one video screen at public consultations.

People are then able to clearly visualise different aspects of the pulp development, before, during and after. Three dimensional modelling is only as good as the information/ data supplied, so this gives all interest groups chance to have input and see the results of the combined effects on a proposal.

In the current proposal, modelling should include the social, environmental, financial, transport, [trains as well] traffic flows, health effects and resources needed, likewise education and housing to name but some of the assessments needed to validate this proposal.

By the way, if curiosity gets the better of honourable Members then a free Google Sketchup search will give some insight, and, thus inspired, a trip to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where staff will offer a free three hour visual briefing.

Now, Mr. President, how does one use a mobile phone??!