ESD Planning & Design director Elinor Walker was today announced as the inaugural leader of the state government’s Housing Infrastructure Planning and Development Unit.

The five-person unit, established in February, was created to coordinate infrastructure investment for the state government’s land releases in the outer suburbs, which are anticipated to add 25,000 homes to the state’s housing pipeline.

Walker has led ESD Planning, a Tanunda-based development consultancy specialising in town planning and urban design, since 2012.

She is one of five members on the State Planning Commission, which provides advice to the government on the operation of South Australia’s planning legislation.

According to her LinkedIn, she has also held planning roles with the Barossa, Yorke Peninsula, Salisbury and Gawler councils.

Walker was president of the Planning Institute SA division, the peak body for town planners, from 2019 to 2021.

“It is [a] privilege to be given the responsibility of leading the new Housing Infrastructure Planning and Development Unit to deliver much-needed homes for South Australians,” Walker said in a statement.

“I know from recent first-hand experience how difficult it can be to find affordable housing to rent or to purchase and I am honoured to be entrusted to ensure that we create new communities that will be great places to live.”

Walker said it was “vital” that new housing is delivered in a “well-planned, sustainable and connected way”.

“The establishment of the Housing Infrastructure Planning and Development Unit is an exciting opportunity which will allow us to create a strong strategic planning framework for how we plan for growth and change in Adelaide,” she said.

The state government announced in February its intention to create 23,700 new suburban dwellings via land rezonings in Hackham, Sellicks Beach, Dry Creek and Concordia.

Since then, it has announced plans to release land to create an additional 1000 homes in Murray Bridge, 800 homes in Aldinga, 600 homes in Noarlunga Downs and 500 homes in Golden Grove.

The housing growth plan, concentrated in Adelaide’s outer suburbs, has prompted concerns about the strain on local infrastructure including health services, education, transport and roads.

It has also brought back fears that the lack of infrastructure coordination which marred the Rann Government’s rezoning of Mt Barker in 2010 could be repeated.

Planning Minister Nick Champion has previously argued that the new unit Walker is heading up will help alleviate local concerns about infrastructure.

“It’s why we’ve formed the unit… to look at all the invisible network that lives beneath our feet,” Champion told InDaily in February.

“You’ve got to have some idea of the capacity of the electricity market, the capacity of the sewerage system in order to get orderly development.

“That’s all the enabling infrastructure that enables a developer to get on and make nice homes and a great community, so it’s a critical piece of work.”

Champion said today that he looked forward to working with Walker in her work “ensuring these new and growing communities are backed by key infrastructure and amenities, and this significant pipeline of housing is rolled out in a planned and considered way”.

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