Border bans leave planner stranded

BORDER restrictions have hampered development and planning in Kingborough, with the council left fuming after being unable to fly in a town planner from interstate.

Kingborough Mayor Paula Wriedt (below) said the council employed a planner from interstate after being unable to secure one in Tasmania.

The council believed the planner would be allowed entry into Tasmania in a “timely way” but has been waiting since August.

“The situation is quite frankly ridiculous,” Cr Wriedt said.

“Council staff have made numerous appeals to the Deputy State Controller and government Ministers and MP’s to no avail.

“It’s incredibly frustrating both for us as her employer, and for the person concerned.”

Cr Wriedt said the council hadn’t asked for exemptions and that the planner was fully prepared to enter hotel quarantine out of her pocket.

“I can’t help but be angry when considering that last year we know of construction workers that received priority treatment to travel to the state and fit out a Domino’s pizza shop on the Eastern Shore,” she said

“That apparently was highly specialised and could not be done by anyone in Tasmania.”

The new planner had resigned from her previous position in NSW.

“We have statutory obligations under LUPAA to meet timelines for assessing development applications and as that requires site visits we can’t have someone doing the role remotely.”

“We are now in a situation where we have unprecedented growth in building and construction in Kingborough and there is a national shortage of qualified planners.

“We have been filling the void with consultant planners but they are in increasingly short supply also.”

Cr Wriedt said the system was unacceptable.

“There is no system and it is the luck of the draw.”