High-rise anger mounts

HOBART’S Town Hall was full to bursting as residents gave a united voice to their opposition to planned high-rise buildings for the city.

People flowed out onto the stairwell and into a secondary, standing-room-only area as about 500 attended last night’s Hobart Not Highrise public meeting.

The crowd was addressed by Hobart Not Highrise president Brian Corr, heritage and urban planning expert Robert Vincent and neighbour to one of Fragrance Group’s proposed high-rise buildings, Jan Butler.

Mr Vincent told the room people power had helped overturn previous proposals such as the Oceanport development in 1992 and Ms Butler said Fragrance Group had not considered the location of its proposals or nearby buildings when designing them.

Growing opposition to the plans comes as exclusive Mercury polling this week revealed 62.4 per cent of Tasmanians do not support skyscrapers in central Hobart.

Fragrance wants to build an 84m hotel in Collins St and a 186m skyscraper in Davey St.

Hobart City Council aldermen were also in the audience last night. The council is consulting on an amendment to the interim planning scheme related to height standards for buildings in the city’s CBD.

The amendment would insert a criteria requiring aldermen to consider the desired future character of the city when considering applications for buildings above 45m.

City Planning Committee chairman Alderman Jeff Briscoe said the decision to initiate the amendment followed a review by urban design consultant Leigh Woolley suggesting standards should be addressed when considering building heights. Submissions will be considered by the council and the Tasmanian Planning Commission before a final decision on the amendment is made.

Public information sessions to explain the proposed amendment and the outcomes of Mr Woolley’s Height Standards Review Report will be held in the council’s Elizabeth St conference room on August 8 and August 15.