Toxic ideology is killing our communityand destroying business

Hobart council is a nest of greens, writes Louise Bloomfield

GREEN ideology, the driving force behind Hobart City Council, purports to embrace inclusion and diversity, but the council’ s actions have done anything but.

COVID-19 has created a desolate landscape for small business owners. It’s an area that desperately needs help. The Mid Town Strategic Plan will do the opposite. It will create a toxic environment that small business owners expect will cause massive down turns or force closures.

Some are considering moving from the area already.

This is not news to council. They heard the concerns and ignored them.

This is the sector with the highest employment and it is concerning to see council treat it with such callous disregard.

H CC is determined to push this destructive plan with minimal input from small businesses most affected.

Access to parking and good traffic flow is essential to the community. With so little investment in public transport, it can mean the difference between getting and keeping a joborstayingonthedole.It can limit the clients a contractorisabletotakeon.It can even determine which sports and after-school activities families allow their children to participate in.

Every reduction in speed limit and car park numbers impacts equitable access for thecommunity.

This plan will see a big proportion of valuable car parks along Elizabeth St turned into a bike lane and a few dining decks for a lucky few cafes. This beggars belief. This is the main artery that feeds this struggling business district. The many elderly people who frequent the CWA and these wing machine shop nearby say they are concerned about how they will access the area if car parks are removed.

Southern Tasmania has not enjoyed investment in public transport required for the council to consider alternative sat the expense of parkinganduseofcars.It’s that simple.

To justify this extreme and in equitable plan, H CC released a survey and encouraged the public to take part. The survey gave little to no way of communicating diversity of thought regarding the parking needs of small business, so I conducted my own survey.

The response was similar to the numbers the HCC obtained. In the space of a couple of months they received about 168 responses, and within two weeks we have more than 140 responses. The results are illuminating.

We found that just 62 per cent were aware of the Mid Town Project a tall. It’s also interesting to note that any business on aside street within a stone’ s throw of Elizabeth St was not considered to have

interest in this project.

Only1percentof respondents use a bike to get around Hobart, while 75 per cent felt parking was inadequate and 32 percent actually drive away unable findaparkatall—60percent asked for more parking to be available, and 18 percent for more access to public transport. Only 22 percent would even use the proposed outdoor dining if it was available.

One in 10 people said the project would be fabulous, while 68 percent pointed out that dining next to traffic was unpleasant. Safety and in clement weather were a concern for 85 percent —55 percent asked why it was always cafe sand restaurants getting H CC funding.

Disabled access and less parking were a concern for 50 percent and 62 percent, respectively. All things considered ,90 percent of respondents found an issue with this project.

These concerns are not new to H CC. Eve ninth eH CC report on the plan were comments from small business owners pointing out the detrimental effects of slowing traffic and removing parking. One business owner pleaded with council not togo ahead with the plan because their gross income could be hit by as much as 50 percent. These pleas were ignored.

Through the prism of HCC’ s green ideology, small business, employees and customers are second-class citizens.

The Mid Town Business District will suffer under this plan. People who live, work and visit this area don’ t want car-parking converted to publicspace.

This destructive ideology needs to be abandoned before Hobart’ s small business goes the way of the thy la cine. Louise Bloom field is principal accountant at Hobart tax agents accountants and bookkeepers, Bloom field& Associates. She stood unsuccessfully as a candidate at the last Hobart council elections.