Railyard Study Jumping the Gun

Professional planners have issued a cautious warning over a proposed new study to determine the best use for Hobart’s waterfront railyards site.

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) says any study to determine future use of any site in Hobart should be carried out in the overall city framework.

PIA Tasmanian President Matthew Clark said it would be wrong to invest funding into individual studies around the city without considering the appropriate mechanism of the Hobart Capital City Plan.

“We are great at coming up with new ideas for Hobart but every idea we come up with should be tested against the overall framework for the city,” Mr Clark said.

“Whether it’s a floating pier, monorail, light rail, elevated bypasses, under-city tunnel or duplicate bridges, anything we come up with should be part of the overall structure of the city plan.”

Mr Clark was responding to the announcement that the Federal Government would put up $110,000 for a study to determine the best use of the Macquarie Point Railyards property.

“Any funding for strategic planning studies whether it’s from the Federal or the State Government is welcomed,” he said.

“This funding is an opportunity to coordinate a detailed planning study with the broader strategic ambitions proposed by the draft Hobart Capital City Plan.

“However if studies are done in isolation we risk making decisions which will hamstring the development of the city as a whole. Poor provision for expansion of the Royal Hobart Hospital is an example of this.

“It’s important that the railyard area be considered in relation to the whole city and the appropriate mechanism for this is the Hobart Capital City Plan which is yet to be is finalised.

“We agree with the idea of a masterplan for an individual area such as the railyards or Sullivans Cove, but each must be coordinated through a wider plan for the city.

“We have not had an overall plan for the city since 1962 when the then Southern Metropolitan Planning Authority did a series of Masterplans for Hobart.

“We believe it’s critical that the Hobart Capital City Plan, issued as a draft in November last year, be completed and that it be used as a benchmark against which all new plans and projects are framed.

“The State Government is to be commended for putting resources into planning policy in what is a difficult time for the State and the construction industry, however, this is against historically low levels of investment in strategic planning in Tasmania.

“The 2011 Federal Productivity Commission Draft Research report found that in the 2009-2010 period Tasmania spent $900,000 on planning related activities compared to the Northern Territory’s $6.9M and NSW’s $93.7M.

“Given the short-fall in overall strategic spending it is imperative that any funding is sagely used to further overall needs of the city.

“Isolated ideas really have to be considered against a measurable framework within the Hobart Capital City Plan and the sooner it’s completed the better.”
Planning Institute Australia