Pesky car drivers

THERE has been a flurry of letters casting doubt on the benefits of the ratepayer funded overseas tours of our Hobart City Councillors. Councillors have gained inspiration from these overseas visits. A trip to New York inspired an ice-skating rink in Sullivans Cove a la Central Park. And then there was architect Jan Gehl, who we brought in from Denmark to advise the Council on urban design. He is renowned for giving the flat and featureless city of Copenhagen public open space, safe bike paths, street sculpture, and pedestrian friendly streets. As a result similar additions have been pasted onto Hobart.

But because our streets are too narrow to accommodate bike lanes plus wide footpaths plus motor cars it has been necessary to squeeze the car lanes a bit. Unfortunately pesky car drivers are still driving into the city, creating self-inflicted traffic chaos. Instead of Copenhagen or New York I would recommend the Italian region of Cinque Terre as a destination for the alderpersons. Here villages cling to the steep mountainous Mediterranean coast. It is a model that could be more readily applied in Hobart. We could solve our housing crisis by making the Pinnacle Rd available for housing. We could build homes featuring million dollar views plus cable-driven public transport. would assist all parties and not give false hopes to either at the planning stage. There has been talk for years about “red tape” not only in planning but in the building code. Considering some amendments to the planning scheme and building code may go a long way in seeing shop top development occur, ultimately making Hobart are far more liveable city. What do we get? Rubbish removal and zilch else. Meanwhile living off the fat of us lambs are the lord mayor and aldermen (must fly business class, oh the poor dears).