New hospital plans fail to win support

A NEW private hospital proposed for Hobart’s northern suburbs looks set to be refused by council after the proponents decided to not make a new application.

Last month, the Hobart City Council planning committee voted to defer the application for a $50 million Tasman Private Hospital at the old Win TV site at 48-52 New Town Rd, New Town.

The deferral was to give the applicants time to consider further consultation with council staff and the community for a potential redesign.

A planning officer had said a significant redesign and readvertising would likely be needed to make the building compliant with the planning scheme.

The design for the boutique four-storey medical centre included six operating theatres and a 24-bed overnight ward as well as a pharmacy, radiology, conference facilities, doctors’ rooms and health support services.

The project is a joint-venture between national shortstay hospital specialist Nexus Hospitals and Contact Group, a Tasmanianbased family construction business.

The application drew widespread opposition from the New Town community and it was standing room only with residents packing out a meeting last month.

The application was recommended for refusal by council staff on six grounds, including that it did not contribute positively to the streetscape and would have an unreasonable impact on residential amenity.

Since the deferral, a meeting was held between the proponents and some members of the community about potential changes.

Some of the changes included increasing some setbacks, additional landscaping and privacy screening.

However, opponents told council staff the changes did not go far enough.

With the application due to expire on December 3, the proponents have asked the council to consider approving the application subject to conditions to achieve the suggested changes.

However, the planning committee agenda reads: “The officer view … is that any approval that included conditions to achieve those changes would require the proposal applied for to be changed to such an extent the validity of such an approval would be questionable in the event of a third party appeal, exposing council to potential costs.”

The proposal is recommended for refusal at Monday night’s planning committee meeting, with the proponents “encouraged to submit a new application responding to the concerns outlined”.