Meeting the people

Margot Giblin West Hobart meets the HCC candidates …

Question time revealed that protection of heritage buildings was high on the residents’ list of issues, as was protection of home owners’ amenity in the face of proposed adjacent developments. There was disbelief expressed that a Council so concerned about heritage allowed no provision for objections based on the obliteration of a view. Ruzicka said that this was an issue causing a lot of angst and that perhaps the new planning scheme should bring back a home-owner’s right to protect their view.

Rod Force addresses the meeting

Bluey Watson

Gerry Andrews, Marti Zucco and Jenny Eiszele

The West Hobart Neighbourhood Watch group held a meeting for residents to meet candidates on Wednesday night, chaired by Bluey Watson.

Watson has recently been awarded a medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the major British Nuclear Test Trials on Australian Soil. It recognises the time he spent in the navy on the Monte Belle Islands, off the coast of Western Australia, ensuring that fishing boats stayed out of the danger zone. While aware that the timing of the award from John Howard is not unconnected with the upcoming federal election this does nothing to diminish Bluey’s pride in it or the strength of his belief that the participation of ‘guinea pigs’ should be acknowledged. With a clear view of some politicians’ motives he now chaired the Meet the Candidates meeting with deft use of a thick pen, few words and a bell to signal the two minute limit.

Watson read out the names of those candidates expected to attend. Elise Archer was the first to fall by the wayside. ‘Not here? Scrub her out’, and with a swipe of the pen she was gone. At least there were apologies from Ron Christie, Philip Cocker, Bill Harvey, Elizabeth Perey and Mike Shea.

Jeff Briscoe spoke first, congratulating the group on being one of the most active in Hobart and noting the friendly atmosphere, hoping it would last the night. He referred to his continued interest in seeing the Battery Point foreshore walk completed. Briscoe also referred to his hopes for a transport corridor from Hobart to Brighton utilizing the railway track area. A councilor for fourteen years he sees Council as being focused on dealing with individuals and communities’ every day problems with particular emphasis on development.

This, said Peter Donnelly, will be your last opportunity to vote for me – I wont be standing again. He supports maintaining a transport link in the rail corridor, touched on the importance of heritage issues and envisaged a transport hub at the Sullivans’Cove end of the link which would house suitable museum collections. Such things are now being replaced, he said, ‘by flat screens and rubbish’.
Leo Foley, while impressed with the number of residents attending, felt the days of community associations as a conduit to Council were over, advocating precincts such as Glenorchy is trialling and greater use of electronic communications. Foley wants a revamping of the rates system so that it targets rather than house improvements.

Rod Force wants an increase in outside recreation and dog walking areas. He supports extensions to park and ride and the introduction of express bus lanes. He feels that tourists are attracted to Hobart’s atmosphere and scale, that there should be better management of water resources, that the greening of houses should be encouraged and petrol allowances for ex councilors abolished.
Corey Peterson introduced himself as not being Tasmanian born, having decided to stay on at the end of an Antarctic research trip. One of his concerns is transport, supporting much of what had been said already – with the addition of dedicated bike lanes to further reduce congestion. He supports sustainability in the city, saying that tanks and solar panels need to be put in place now with Council taking a lead both in its own buildings and in regulating new developments to see that site specific solutions are sought. Peterson also referred to his commitment to affordable housing and the protection of streetscapes with encouragement of native and fruit bearing plants. He would like to see the selling and planting of weed species banned and envisages Council taking a pro-active advisory role as well as being a regulator in this area.

Eva Ruzicka was the first to address the gender imbalance which Bluey had been regretting for some time by this stage. She spoke of the Myer fire as having exacerbated Hobart’s traffic problems and then more generally of the frustrations involved in being a councilor and the slowness with which ideas come to fruition – which she gave as her rationale for wanting to stand again, to see some things through. She said that all of the excellent ideas already mentioned were in fact in progress, but slow progress.

She referred to the importance of Holy Trinity Church and to the upcoming revamped City of Hobart Planning Scheme which she hoped would be combined with the sort of people on Council who could keep the city a vibrant place.

Tim Smith said he felt the rates system is extremely unfair and that it hurts the average battling person. He advocated extended periods of free parking for pensioners who presently prefer to drive to Eastlands or Northgate. ‘I also support the green side of Council’, he said.

Gary Winter, hailing from the tree rich suburb of Mt Nelson said he would like to have a city that’s a great place to live. He would like to see Council getting a better handle on water management and gave ticks to the Battery Point foreshore walk and Council support for the preservation of Holy Trinity Church. As Howard’s new Kingston by-pass is going to bring more cars to Macquarie St Winter advocates clearways and freedom from log-trucks from 7-9am.

Helen Burnett referred to the field in which she finds herself contesting the position of Deputy Lord Mayor as being of Melbourne Cup proportions.

She is, she assured residents, a serious contender for a role which demands extensive consultation with council officers, fellow councilors and the community. ‘In the 2½ years I’ve had on Council I have had my ear to local issues and could serve the community well’. She believes Council does have a role to play in relation to affordable housing. ‘We need to find ways to free up land to make Hobart the right mix, to make it a place of inclusion not exclusion’. Burnet has been involved in supporting heritage issues and lives in North Hobart in which Holy Trinity Church acts as a beacon. It is an iconic church, she said and Council is already supporting development of its management plan. Burnett referred to being on the Development and Environmental Services Committee, which works hard and which she takes seriously. She had voted against the Menzies Centre and then fought hard to have changes made to make it more site appropriate.

Marti Zucco. ‘In 1975 I first came to Hobart and fell in love with it and with North Hobart. I was told not to open a restaurant there – I’d go broke – but, I’m a visionary person’. He is also, said Zucco, a factual person and things take time, for instance, the skate park which took eight years to get up. ‘We can all have things we’d like to see done on council – bike tracks, peripheral car parks with buses to the city – but all these dreams take a while’. He also expressed his interest in affordable housing.

Rob Valentine was introduced with Bluey’s commendation of his singing which is ‘quite good’. Valentine didn’t sing but said he felt it was important that Council strategically plan for the long term to get things right and work with surrounding councils in the attempt. ‘Hobart is the destination’, he said and therefore it needs inter-council co-operation. He stressed the need to retain water management and sewerage – take this away from councils and you gut them. You lose staff and then economy of scale.

Question time revealed that protection of heritage buildings was high on the residents’ list of issues, as was protection of home owners’ amenity in the face of proposed adjacent developments. There was disbelief expressed that a Council so concerned about heritage allowed no provision for objections based on the obliteration of a view. Ruzicka said that this was an issue causing a lot of angst and that perhaps the new planning scheme should bring back a home-owner’s right to protect their view.

The future of Sullivans Cove was flagged as being of concern with Briscoe clarifying that the area will come back to Council for management in seven years, the state government having set up the Waterfront Authority to manage it three years ago. Valentine said that whatever happened to the Dunn Place carpark area it should illuminate both its Indigenous and European history.

In West Hobart the train park is a matter of concern to many, as expressed by a young father at the meeting. He requested ground cover in children’s play areas that can be easily raked to reveal syringes and broken glass in preference to the present pine bark. When it was suggested that he should let Council know if things weren’t right his response was that Council should have in place lines of communication between their own workers, who were well aware of problems, and councilors so that it was not up to members of the public to alert them to specific needs. Beyond this particular issue however he wanted to know why it takes such a long time to get anything done by Council and how it could be sped up. The bike plan introduced in 96 has resulted in one bike lane down Argyle St.

Briscoe expressed his own frustration and bewilderment at how and why things get stalled at Council level. He then described the fate of plans for a bike lane in Regent St Sandy Bay – which all residents wanted but which too many then rejected when it meant they couldn’t park outside their own house. ‘Because we’re a small population, and Council doesn’t bulldoze these things they can get bogged down.’

Burnet put some of the slowness down to the political process – citing her own attempt to get the petrol allowance examined and removed. This became part of a much bigger and more complicated project. While she felt this could well be an improvement on her original idea it also meant that attempts to stop the petrol allowance would take much longer to eventuate. Burnet also suggested that the present council is very conservative and that if West Hobart residents wanted things happening faster they needed to ensure a change of councilors.