Mayor’s tick for floating hotel

HOBART Lord Mayor Sue Hickey says the location of the proposed floating hotel by Robert Morris-Nunn is a fantastic one despite calls to first consider developing other sites in the city.

Prof Morris-Nunn last week unveiled plans for a 270room floating hotel on the River Derwent that would be anchored next to the Regatta Grounds.

A development application for the hotel, which would also have restaurants, bars and retail space on the ground floor, is expected to be lodged with the council next month.

Alderman Hickey said she could not wait to see the full plans.

“It appears to be a worldclass and innovative idea,” she said.

“It gets rid of the high-rise debate, it’s something completely out of the box and opens up some new forms of proposals for the future.”

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin was a little more cautious about the proposal.

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge for it,” he said.

“There are opportunities for already existing sites in the city and to transform them so I think there is a lot of work to go.”

The floating pontoon would draw on the same Tasmanian technology used to create the $13 million Brooke St Pier in 2014. It would be secured to sea anchors beneath the water, allowing it to rise and fall with the tide.