‘Absence of trust’: The Shake Up panel’s take on the UTAS campus move

A UTAS consultation panel believed trust was a key issue when it came to information on the campus move. Now that the panel is done and dusted, what happens now?

University of Tasmania building and signage, Sandy Bay Campus. Picture: Richard Jupe.

AS the University of Tasmania turns its attention to a revision of its Sandy Bay masterplan, a panel set up to consult on the campus shift into the CBD has found trust was a key issue around public information.

Eighty people including students, educators, parents and other groups were selected to form The Shake Up panel which conducted months of consultation around the UTAS campus move from Sandy Bay to central Hobart.

UTAS Shake-Up session panel participant Megan Tighe and facilitator Nicole Halsey. Picture: Linda Higginson

The panel later shrunk to 63 members.

The panel’s activities have now wrapped up and the final report, prepared by Tasmanian media company The20 has been released.

The report said the university had previously engaged the community on the move.

“The results of this consultation didn’t permeate into the public consciousness very well,” the report said.

“Many members of the community came to feel that the uni was simply upping sticks and plonking itself into the heart of Hobart.”

University of Tasmania building and signage, Hobart CBD. Picture: Richard Jupe.

The panel said the university’s engagement with the community hadn’t been working and that there was an “absence of trust”.

“A clear message from the community panel was the need for the university to change the way it communicates and engages with the community,” the report said.

“There is a strong desire for consistent and regular information from the university.

“Key information sources such as the university’s website are not seen as accurate or truthful

sources of information by many in the community.”

The university has been urged to undertake a review of its engagement around the move and develop a communication and engagement strategy.

The panel also noted the university needed to ensure it continued to engage with the community, so it may continue to have a say on the planning process.

The university will use the information from the panel to inform its revised vision of the Sandy Bay masterplan.

“The findings from The Shake Up will be used by the designers, architects, master planners and other professionals creating the city campus, to help better inform the briefs they’re working to,” the report said.

“Vitally, they can learn from their mistakes. They’ve shown that they’re capable of this by admitting that the street facades of the large accommodation buildings they’ve previously built in the city aren’t right for the environment.”

The revised masterplan - a decision in part influenced by the results of a poll conducted during the Hobart City Council elections - will be released in 2023.

Originally published as ‘Absence of trust’: The Shake Up panel’s take on the UTAS campus move