Peter Seamer, UDIA Awards Judge & Former Victorian Planning Authority CEO
For this instalment of our Humans of Property series, we caught up with UDIA Head Awards Judge, Peter Seamer.
A little about Peter
Peter has separate Master degrees in transport planning and urban planning. His career started with the planning of new towns in the UK and Australia before becoming the CEO of four Australian Councils including the City of Sydney. He was the CEO of Federation Square during its construction and early operational phase. Most recently he was the CEO of the Victorian Planning Authority for a decade overseeing the design and planning of sixty new suburbs.
He has been made a Member of the Order of Australia and recently has written “Breaking Point: The Future of Australian Cities.”
His greatest career achievement to date has been.
This would probably have been building and running Federation Square. Really however there are many things I’m proud of: building great organisations that are focussed on achieving goals, the Bendigo Art Gallery, designing plans for over 50 new suburbs both Greenfield and middle ring.
A tip he would give to his younger self.
Never give up!
What motivates him
Having the opportunity to do things that are worthwhile and make a difference.
A challenging situation in his career that he overcame
Building Federation Square without completed plans and only half the money that was required.
When he thinks about the future of the industry what is he excited by
I am excited by the innovation and responses to challenges exhibited by some applicants for the UDIA Excellence awards.
