Co-design with a country feel
Jensen PLUS recently led a co-design planning workshop for the Bagdad and Mangalore communities in southern Tasmania, bringing together local residents, stakeholders, and planners to collaboratively shape the future of these small but growing areas.
Bagdad and Mangalore sit in a beautiful valley just north of Hobart. The area is becoming increasingly popular as a place to live. It’s affordable, scenic, has a popular local school, and is close to growing towns like Brighton. With the completion of the new $786 million Bridgewater Bridge, access to the area from metro Hobart will improve further, supporting its future growth.
Held on the 19th and 20th of February 2025 at the Bagdad Community Club, the workshop attracted more than 60 participants across two days of sessions – focused on exploring opportunities for new village and rural housing, improved public spaces, connectivity, community facilities, and sustainable development.
A key outcome of the workshop was the development of a first draft vision for Bagdad and Mangalore: “By 2055 our valley communities around Bagdad and Mangalore have grown into attractive villages, where new housing and infrastructure has been built to manage growth, and to keep the country feel.”
In addition, six guiding principles were established to shape the future structure plan:
- Growing valley
- Infrastructure supporting growth
- Keep the country feel
- Attractive village centres
- Create destinations
- Connected valley
A key theme of discussion was balancing the need to protect agricultural land – for growing food and maintaining landscape values – with the provision of new housing and lifestyle opportunities. This challenge is common in peri-urban areas across Australia, where population growth pressures must be carefully managed alongside preserving rural character and compromising rural land uses.
Michael McKeown, Director of Jensen PLUS, highlighted the importance of community involvement in shaping the towns’ future:
“Workshops like these empower communities by giving them a direct role in envisioning their future. They are especially valuable in regional areas, where we can stay for a bit longer and really understand the place, its people, and its challenges.”
Pat Iwanyshyn, Senior Urban Designer at Jensen PLUS, reflected on the significance of this project:
“This is my first Jensen PLUS project outside of South Australia, and it’s been an exciting opportunity to bring my planning and engagement expertise to a new region. And fun to learn a lot about this region of Tassie and its community.”
The insights gathered from the workshop will help inform a draft structure plan, which is expected to be released by mid-year.
