A shopping list for suburban centre renewal?
Do you go shopping with a list? It’s good thing to have a plan, to manage the complexity of life and deliver confidence. What’s on the list for suburban centre renewal? Building height is getting renewed attention in the debate about additional residential supply in well-located suburban settings. Height is emotive – and part of […]
Beyond the cookie-cutter suburb
If you could design the perfect suburb, where would you start? My guess is that your dream suburb wouldn’t resemble many of the new communities that have sprung up in Australia over the past few decades. At the recent Australia’s Future Suburbs Symposium, there was discussion around the premise that our suburbs are generic, repetitive […]
Housing, Crime and the Spaces we Share
Housing and crime continue to dominate public discourse, shaping political debate and policy agendas across local, state and national levels. However, while these issues often occupy the same agendas, they are usually regarded separately. Despite this, these issues share deep and complex interconnections rooted in social, spatial and systemic factors, and I firmly believe that […]
If planning systems worked, would we still be appealing?
If appeals are a routine part of the planning practice in Queensland, what does that tell us about where our system chooses to resolve planning conflict? It’s no secret that our state is in the midst of a housing crisis, with a need to build 49,300 new homes per year across Queensland – a goal […]
Stroke of Genius: How a paint factory became a home for creatives
As South-East Queensland grapples with a growing need for housing and community infrastructure, the former Taubman’s paint factory sat among the leafy riverside suburb of Yeronga as an underperforming and previously considered unviable industrial asset. Recognising the potential of the site as a mixed-use precinct, Montague Developments engaged Therefor Group to effectively demonstrate that the […]
Unlocking Housing: Advocating for zoning reform in Brisbane
As debate continues to rage over Australia’s housing supply shortage, any meaningful conversation about addressing the issue must acknowledge the importance of housing diversity and reforms to residential zoning. South-East Queensland is just one region bearing the brunt of unsustainable demand for homes in recent years with a disturbing number of Queenslanders experiencing housing stress […]
ThereforHER: Championing Women, Driving Change
As we stepped into 2025 with a bold new brand and renewed purpose, one thing remained constant: our unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and leading change. At the heart of this commitment is ThereforHER – our revitalised initiative dedicated to empowering women across our organisation and industry. Established in 2018 as Women of Wolters (WOW), the initiative […]
Planning With Heart: A conversation with rising star Tom Kennedy
At Therefor Group, we’re always on the lookout for emerging voices who are shaping the future of our cities – and few embody that spirit more than Tom Kennedy. Our CEO, Dan Best, recently sat down with Tom to chat about his journey into planning, his passion for advocacy, and what it meant to receive […]
Unlocking Faith-based Land: The Rise of YIFBY in Queensland
As the housing shortage deepens across Australia, YIFBY (Yes In Faith’s Back Yard) is a bold policy change being led by Therefor Group, to activate the under-utilised landholdings of faith-based groups for social and affordable housing. Many faith-based organisations own significant amounts of well-located land, often in established communities with existing urban services. Yet, much […]
Housing is a Human Right
Why I Believe Housing Should Be a Human Right — And What We Can Do About It I’ve always believed that housing is a human right. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places shelter right at the base, alongside food and water — the essentials for survival. And in the international human rights framework, housing is clearly […]
