One-size-fits-all planning fails communities

HOBART City Council should be sending a strong message to Planning Minister Peter Gutwein on how and where short-term visitor accommodation should be allowed in Hobart.

I am very concerned about the “crash through” approach the Minister is taking with his latest planning directive on what is essentially uncapped short-term visitor accommodation and how that could effect the residential amenity in parts of our city.

Minister Gutwein wants to ram through changes to the rules around short-term visitor accommodation from July 1, and is bucking even his own processes to get there. He is overstepping the mark as Minister, and not leaving planning to local authorities nor giving local communities their input into these planning considerations.

He seems to think he knows best with his blanket approach to short-term visitor accommodation, and has publicly criticised the move by Hobart City Council to request Battery Point residential zone be exempt from these changes.

The probable impacts of his changes on Battery Point are of major concern. The Battery Point residential area BP1 is a remnant of the Battery Point Planning Scheme. It looks to protect residential amenity, an important component of Battery Point. It was clear at a public meeting in March at the Battery Point Hall that there is plenty of support to make sure Battery Point remains local, with predominantly residents calling it home.

With Minister Gutwein’s proposed directive, from July 1 there will be no cap in shortterm visitor accommodation, which would very radically change the look and feel of Battery Point.

My concern goes further. These poorly considered changes are not just going to impact Battery Point. There are other areas of Hobart where short-term visitor accommodation needs greater consideration than the Minister seems prepared to give. Consider this: in Minister Gutwein’s uncapped changes, there could well be a dozen short-term rentals available along a street, with up to four bedrooms occupied in each of those places. How might this impact on neighbours, parking requirements, and the nature of that part of the city? What will be the impact on heritage precincts? Who will be left to monitor standards — most are self-regulatory — and how will this impact on the fabric of the community?

Suddenly, what seems like a good idea, does not really look as if it has been thought through very well at all.

The needs of a city with narrow streets, medium density housing, does not directly compare with how you might approach shortterm visitor accommodation in a rural municipality.

Minister Gutwein’s interference in what should be left to councils as planning authorities is yet another example of his lack of consultation with local government.

The sharing economy is obviously here to stay and there is no doubt that it has positive impacts on local economies.

However, there are many examples of negative impacts from around the world where short-term visitor accommodation has forced out low-income earners, key workers, students.

Hobart is trying to increase the number of students living in the city, and for our own success, we really need to house everyone.

Right now, with Hobart’s 0.6 per cent residential property vacancy rate, there is no room to move, and quite literally, no room to move into.

We do not want an increase in the rates of homelessness, and I would urge the Minister to reconsider his proposal, before he makes it even more difficult for vulnerable people living in Hobart.

Of course, any visitor accommodation is a really important part of our economy, but I believe that it should not be considered out of the local context.

I want to fully consider the pros and cons of allowing short-term visitor accommodation and want to see the detailed report and figures requested which the council’s planning officers are putting together.

Beware, the Minister wants to saddle Hobart with his one-size-fits-all planning reforms, and this is very poor planning.

Helen Burnet is a Greens alderman and member of the HCC Planning Committee.