Clarence growing pains

CONSTRUCTION of stage two of the Kangaroo Bay foreshore promenade by the Clarence City Council is expected to begin this month, as concerned residents ramp up their efforts to be heard.

The Kangaroo Bay precinct between Rosny College and the Bellerive Yacht Club is anticipated to eventually encompass transport, shopping and tourism precincts.

A ferry terminal is also part of the longer term vision.

In the short term, a development application has been approved by the council for a $50 million project including a 120-room hotel and TasTAFE tertiary-level hospitality training school.

Multibillion-dollar Chinese petrochemical company Shandong Chambroad teamed up with local developers Hunter Developments, headed by architect Robert Morris-Nunn, to develop the 8900m2 wharf site.

The State Government transferred the crown land where the development will be sited, which Premier Will Hodgman said in 2015 was valued at $2.5 million, to the council in November last year, which is now in the process of being sold to the developers.

Clarence mayor Doug Chipman said the developers had made a deposit on the land, but the sale price was “commercial in confidence.”

“I can say by the time we’ve sold this bit of land and the other boulevard lots, we will have helped significantly offset the cost of [council’s contribution of] $7.9m,” he said.

Alderman Chipman said the next steps from the council would be the second stage of the foreshore promenade linking to Rosny College, working with Bellerive Yacht Club to develop their car park site and completing commercial negotiations on the land sale with the developers, which will enable the hotel and hospitality school development to begin.

The project was facilitated through the State Government’s Office of the Co-ordinator General.

Chambroad’s chief visited Tasmania in 2014 as part of TasInvest and, in April 2015, signed a memorandum of understanding with TasTAFE to pursue training opportunities in Tasmania.

Kangaroo Bay could be considered a focal point of the Clarence region and some say it has the potential to be the jewel in the crown.

The contention among those in the community who have spoken against the devel- opment is focused on the height of the Cambridge Rd building which would house the hospitality training school.

They also say there was a lack of consultation.

In 2008, the council commissioned a community and stakeholder consultation process, which later led to the adoption of the Kangaroo Bay Urban Design Strategy and Concept Plan.

The council has since committed $7.9 million towards the full implementation of the plan and the Federal Government kicked in an extra $5 million towards the precinct civil works, including new roads, intersections and services.

Details of the plans for the hotel and hospitality training school were released last year, with details released when the development application was put out for public comment in late December.

A group of residents calling themselves Kangaroo Bay Voice collected 1700 names on a petition outlining their concerns over the project, and Greens member for Franklin Rosalie Woodruff held a community meeting outlining concerns.

The petition was presented to parliament last month, but no further action was taken and none was required.

Group representatives Michael and Anne Geard bought their Cambridge Rd property, directly across the road from the proposed hospitality building site, five years ago.

“We went to the council before we purchased and they gave us the urban design strategy so we knew there was likely going to be a two-storey building on that site, but what has been accepted is almost three times that,” Mr Geard said.

“It’s not about loss of views — it’s about appropriate development for the site.

“A community meeting was called for a $12 million development in Bellerive with one days’ notice [Wirksworth House], but why couldn’t they call one public meeting for a $50 million development.”

Mr Geard said if the hospitality training school facility was removed from the design, the building would be back down to an acceptable height.

Cheryl and Steve Davison have lived in Cambridge Rd for more than 20 years.

Mrs Davison said what the council approved was nothing like what the community expected.

In the Clarence Interim Planning Scheme under the Kangaroo Bay zone it states that “buildings are not to exceed two storeys in height at the frontage to a public road.”

There are four performance criteria listed against that which mean something more than two storeys can potentially be approved, including “increased height of buildings in the marina and wharf areas may be considered where the development incorporates a scale and architectural response that is cognisant of its location and visual importance in the bay and surrounds.”

Mrs Davison said Rosny College on the other side of the

bay would be the ideal location for a hospitality training school.

“It already has had a new kitchen refit in the last couple of years — why not utilise what we’ve already got and put back our community open space area,” she said.

The group has now started a new website and online petition to be delivered to the Clarence City Council calling on it to “consult fully with the community before any future developments (including a ferry terminal) in Kangaroo Bay.”

Acting almost as an intermediary between residents, council and the developers is Professor Morris-Nunn who said he was happy to try to work with residents to see what could be done to address some of their concerns.

“I want to try and do the best thing by the community and if there are people who feel aggrieved then I try to do my best to see what can be done to take their ideas on board,” he said.

“During the evolution of this, we [Hunter Developments] didn’t have the opportunity to engage with them, but we’d like to do that now.

“I would like to hope we can go some ways towards addressing their concern. We intend to do what we can to change the character of the building [but] it’s not possible to change to the degree some of them might wish.”

Alderman Chipman said the council was pushing for the first sod on the site to be turned in October.

He said that, in a sense, he was surprised by the community angst towards the project.

“Since all the community consultation that has taken place over many years on Kangaroo Bay, both the nature of the planning scheme has changed and the designs by Hunter Developments have changed and therefore the community were surprised,” he said.

“Clarence council’s not really in a position to drive this [consultation] — the develop- er, had he chose, could have convened a meeting to say what he was about to submit, but once it’s submitted it’s got to be dealt with under LUPA [Land Use and Planning Act].”

We went to the council before we purchased and they gave us the urban design strategy so we knew there was likely going to be a two-storey building on that site, but what has been accepted is almost three times that MICHAEL GEARD