Parallel universe of insiders

Jane Rankin-Reid
SURELY if the Tasmanian public is to be genuinely engaged in the process, it would be healthy to reveal who the proposed developers of Parliament Square are and who the architects might be? Why would a genuine democratically committed state government go to the trouble of all this secrecy and veiling about potential developers and designers? Mike Lester can make as many assumptions he wants to from the safety of a parallel universe of “insiders”, but out here in the real world, good design and development processes require an informed public response. Is Federal Hotels the preferred developer for this prime location? I need to know before I vote in next year’s election. Without this required information, we the people are left on the side lines watching the inevitable damage these secret design and planning deals and decisions do to our capital city’s future, not to mention our economy and quality of life. Hobart’s local and state governments have historically commissioned too few public buildings of any real architectural value to let the current political status quo of “insiders” making decisions versus the rest of us being left with only half the information, to continue. Witness the scurrying of guilty local and state politicians hastening away from their ghastly legacies of poorly managed design decisions such as the abysmal Marine Board building, the ghastly dated Grand Chancellor Hotel, the silly unsustainable excuse for a public concert hall, or Mawson’s Place, the emptiest public space on the planet. The state government of Tasmania must substantially increase its efforts to keep the public informed about all the dimensions of the Parliament Square project and processes. Read more, Comment here