Big push on city heights

THE heights of future buildings in Hobart could be limited to 45m.

Hobart alderman Helen Burnet will move at Monday’s city planning committee meeting to restrict building heights on both the waterfront and CBD to 45m, with no leeway.

Ald Burnet said such a move could act as a stopgap measure until the work of urban design consultant Leigh Woolley was completed.

“Planning is around certainty and while 45m may not be the best height for the city, we need to have that stopgap measure,” Ald Burnet said.

In June, Mr Woolley delivered a report to the council recommending that future building projects in Hobart’s city centre should be restricted to 75m in height and not block views of kunanyi/Mt Wellington.

He has since been asked to do more work into building projects in the city.

Ald Burnet said: “There is still a great deal of concern about height in the city and we won’t get the work done by Leigh Woolley until late next year and that leaves a gap and it does not allay the concerns people have about it.”

Her motion would cover both the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme and the Hobart Interim Planning Scheme.

Under the existing Hobart scheme, the height limit for buildings in Hobart is 45m.

But a proposed building over the height limit could still be approved if it met certain criteria such as if it is found to provide an overriding omic benefit.

A number of developments exceeding 45m have recently been approved by the council, including the new Royal Hobart Hospital building (68m), the Myer/Crowne Plaza Hotel (53m) and the Palace Hotel (63m).

The two most contentious proposals — a 179m Davey St hotel and 84m Collins St hotel proposed by the Fragrance econ- Group — are soon set to be publicly advertised.

The height limit for areas under the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme varies from 12m to 18m depending on locations.

City Planning Committee chair Ald Jeff Briscoe said the motion would generate a lot of discussion. “It’s going to be an interesting phase,” he said.

If adopted by the committee, the motion will go to the full council on September 4.