Row over projects laws
THE Hobart City Council will call for a Legislative Council select committee to examine the State Government’s new major projects legislation.
Alderman Damon Thomas told a meeting last night the council needed to go “strongly” on the issue, despite the opposition of Lord Mayor Sue Hickey.
“If this goes through, it will represent a big loss for the community,” Ald Thomas said.
The proposed laws would give the Government the power to “call in” certain developments from councils for assessment.
Ald Hickey said the legis- lation was necessary in Tasmania, especially with other jurisdictions already having some form of it.
“The business community do want certainty but they also want opportunity,” Ald Hickey said.
“It hasn’t been there [to the Legislative Council] yet, where it will get looked at, I just think this is overreacting.”
The Lord Mayor said she would ask City Planning Com- mittee chairman Jeff Briscoe to represent the council on the issue, given she disagreed with its course of action.
She was joined by Deputy Lord Mayor Ron Christie, Ald Marti Zucco and Ald Tanya Denison — who said the council needed to embrace the future — in opposing the motion to call for a review of the legislation, but it was passed 7-4.
The council also voted by majority to continue its pursuit of a maximum building height in the city.
Despite being accused by Ald Zucco of “planning on the run” — he argued the council had already decided to go down this route in a meeting on July 3 — the council voted to examine height limits in the Hobart Interim Planning Scheme and Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme.
The council also agreed for further modelling and to in- clude the “numeric numbers” for the schemes.
Ald Zucco said the council had wasted the time and effort of officers, especially with urban design consultant Leigh Woolley having already done such work.
Ald Briscoe said it was an important step for the council to undertake.
“I hope it does come back and says yes for a nondiscretionary height,” he said.