PROJECT OFF TRACK

THE signatories to the Hobart City Deal and the Implementation Plan, released in 2019, agreed to the addition of a fifth lane on the Southern Outlet in the same footprint as the existing road.

No reference at all was made of compulsorily acquiring existing Hobart family homes.

When it became apparent to the consultant engineers that the plan could not or was not to be implemented without the compulsory acquisition of homes, why didn’t the Premier and the signatories to the agreement stop the process or demand that the engineering company think a bit smarter and come up with an alternative?

Who runs this state? The engineering company seems to be running the government turning everything it touches into a lookalike engineering project. The same company has written extensively on the effect of induced demand – that is, more roads and improved roadways result in more traffic. Surely, $35.5m should not be spent on such a folly. I wonder what the auditor-general thinks about how this money is being spent? Perhaps the government could fund the auditor-general sufficiently for such matters to be investigated thoroughly. Catherine Prideaux

Dynnyrne